Exploris Middle School Director Deborah Brown Named 2026 North Carolina Charter School Principal of the Year
Deborah Brown, Middle School Director at The Exploris School, an urban, independent Title I public charter school in downtown Raleigh, has been named the 2026 North Carolina Charter School Principal of the Year, a statewide honor recognizing outstanding leadership, innovation, and advocacy across more than 200 public charter schools.
Deborah Brown, Exploris Middle School Director and the 2026 North Carolina Charter Principal of the Year.Brown was selected following a rigorous nomination and review process that included a professional portfolio and interview panels with representatives from Wells Fargo, the NC Office of Charter Schools, and previous award recipients. As Charter School Principal of the Year, she will represent North Carolina’s public charter schools throughout 2026 and serve as a voting member of the NC Charter School Advisory Board, helping shape the future of public charter education in the state.
During her seven years leading Exploris Middle School, Brown has helped design and implement a five-person leadership team that distributes decision-making, amplifies teacher voice, and preserves the school’s expeditionary, project-based learning model. She also led a redesign of the middle school schedule to increase literacy time, integrate the arts, and target interventions that improve student outcomes, contributing to measurable academic growth and achievement even as the percentage of economically disadvantaged students at Exploris has more than tripled.
Brown’s leadership has focused on equitable access and student support, including championing a weighted admissions lottery, doubling the Exceptional Children’s department, embedding EC teachers on grade-level teams, and adding a full-time social worker to better support students and families. These efforts have strengthened the school’s inclusive culture and helped ensure that teachers feel supported, students are seen, and the community continues to grow in resilience and care.
Beyond Exploris, Brown has been an influential voice in statewide education. For eight consecutive years, she served as the only charter school representative on the Governor’s Teacher Advisory Committee and was appointed by former State Superintendent Catherine Truitt to the Principal’s Advisory Committee. She also leads the Charter Schools Connection seminar at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), bringing charter and district leaders together to share best practices and strengthen North Carolina’s public education ecosystem.
“This recognition is a reflection of the incredible teachers, students, and families who make our schools thrive every day,” Brown said. “I’m grateful for the chance to represent the remarkable commitment and creativity that define public charter education across our state.”
“My deepest thanks to the Wells Fargo organization for sponsoring this recognition and to the NC Department of Public Instruction for continuing to elevate the work of educators and leaders throughout our state,” she added. “This award is a celebration of the collective leadership that allows teachers to flourish and students to shine.”
Board Chair Steven R. Darroch noted that Brown’s leadership has “helped reshape what public education can look like in our state,” highlighting Exploris as an inclusive, urban charter school with strong academic growth and achievement and a mission to empower learners to improve their world. He credited her with building structures that “scale across the unique and notable Exploris experience, and more broadly, across all of North Carolina’s public schools, which strive not just to survive but to thrive.”
The latest statewide honor is not Brown’s first. For her exemplary work in the classroom, Ms. Brown was named the 2017-2018 North Carolina Charter School Teacher of the Year. As this year’s Charter Principal of the Year, she is the first educator to ever earn both honors.
The Exploris School is an award-winning public charter school founded in 1997 and has elementary and middle school campuses in downtown Raleigh, where students use the city’s museums, parks, government buildings, and neighborhoods as an extended classroom. Through hands-on projects, travel experiences across North Carolina and beyond, and international exchanges, Exploris students engage deeply with their community and the wider world while developing the knowledge and skills to be active, responsible citizens.
Shawna Scipione (2nd Grade Teacher), Dr. Josh Corbat (Director of Resources), Deb Brown, Steven Darroch (Exploris Board Chairperson), and Mariah Perry (Middle School Global Arts Teacher)
Jake Wilson, 2025-26 NC Charter Principal of the Year, and Dr. Jason Johnson, 2025 State Principal of the Year with Deborah Brown during her surprise announcement ceremony.