Jason Johnson, principal of Orange High School in Hillsborough, N.C., has spent 29 years in public education—four as a teacher, and 25 as a school or district leader. Over nearly three decades, he has seen generations of students come through Orange County’s schools. Still, he firmly believes today’s students are “the greatest generation.”
That’s what Johnson opened his acceptance speech with, when he was named the 2026 High School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals on April 17 in Washington. He was selected from a group of state-level finalists for the award. The group also honored other principals and assistant principals for their contributions to public education.
Johnson’s belief in this “greatest generation” solidified when he returned to lead Orange High School after a five-year stint as a district principal coach—arriving just as schools reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This country was at an uproar, right? People were fussing and fighting in school board meetings about banning books and what schools were doing,” said Johnson. “And then I get here, and it just warmed my heart. Even though we had all this going around us, the kids were so caring towards each other.”
He said today’s students are able to navigate political differences while still advocating for their beliefs—organizing walkouts, for example, while maintaining empathy for one another. “They don’t have to connect with us. We have to connect with them,” Johnson added.
To encourage this connection, Orange High surveys students annually with one clear question: Can each student name a trusted adult in school? That trusted adult, usually a teacher, becomes a key support when challenges arise, whether behavioral issues or personal struggles. Johnson relies on those relationships to navigate conflicts, from student fights to political disagreements.
Education Week spoke to Johnson about his win, his approach to school leadership, and what he wants to achieve as the principal of the year.
The interview was edited for length and clarity.
Who was your first phone call to after you won?
My first phone call was to my kids, my son, and my three daughters. My son, he’s 20, said, “Daddy, you are the G.O.A.T!”
What message will you focus on as the principal of the year?
We are doing the impossible. When this country first started, it wasn’t started for people of color to be in public education. But here we are, over 250 years later, and we’re doing the impossible. We’re educating kids from all backgrounds. And I think as a national representative, I have to elevate that.
This is your second stint at Orange High. What brought you back?
I missed everything about high school. Orange High School is the only place I worked at where I did not get rid of my school gear at the end of my tenure. I learned a lot about myself during COVID-19. I realized my heart lay in school leadership.
My stint with the central office absolutely changed my view on the principalship. I got an opportunity to work with 13 principals. They solidified me as an instructional leader. I watched them as they did their instructional walks, gave feedback to their teachers, and had conversations with them on what worked well and what didn’t.
I also learned how to lean on the central office to support things that I’m doing in my school. When I first became a principal, I was one of those people who protected my building and was like, “central office, I need you to stay away so I can do my job.”
Recently, I went to the central office for support in leading [professional learning communities] among English teachers, which is not my forte. They came in and helped me learn, but also helped teachers understand why they should work collaboratively.
What’s a significant challenge you’re tackling right now? How?
Over the last couple of years, my Hispanic students’ attendance in [Advanced Placement] classes has been going up, and I’ve been very proud of that. (Between 2021 and 2025, that number has increased from 32 to 43, according to data shared by Johnson. The total enrollment for AP classes at the school hovered around the 230 mark during the same years, according to state-level data.)
The population of Black students went up, too. But this past year, the enrollment dropped from 23 to 11. We’ve seen a lot of academic growth here at Orange High School, but now our biggest challenge is reaching the students who are struggling more than others.
We’re hearing that some of the students say [they] don’t want to take the difficult classes. But I think what we hear the most is that they don’t see other kids who look like them in the class.
How do you plan to boost the enrollment numbers for students of color in AP classes?
We’re going grassroots. We’re talking to individual students and saying, “Hey, we believe in you, and we believe that you can be in this classroom. We believe that you can take this AP class and be successful.” We do that for all students, but we’re making sure that we are really touching our students of color, and we’re using staff members who we know are those students’ trusted adults. They have a conversation with these students, and with their parents to tell them why the course is important.
We invite former AP students, whether they graduated or are currently at the school, to speak to our students. We have lunch with our students of color who are eligible for upper-level classes. What’s great about having alumni come back, they’re talking about the benefits that they’re seeing while they’re in college. For the kids in school, the alumni are like their role models. And they’re saying, “If I can do it, you can too. So, let’s do it together.”
And then finally, and most importantly, my student service department understands if a student of color wants to drop an AP class, they need to come talk to me first.
Principals are in the center of political debates. Does that impact your role as an advocate?
An advocate, to me, isn’t divisive. But an advocate is also someone who’s going to tell the truth in a non-divisive way. I believe in advocating for students of color and speaking truth around how they’re treated, why they’re treated a certain way, and what we can do to help fix it. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know we can have conversations about it.
I’m also a big advocate for women, and it’s not because I have daughters, it’s because I think women are the smartest people on Earth. I’ve just sat in so many rooms where women are ignored. I can say one thing, and a woman can say the same thing, but people listen to what I’m saying and completely ignore the woman. I tell women, when I’m traveling across North Carolina as a principal, that this is your rightful place. Make sure you speak up. I got your back.
