Nelson Horine, who has guided Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ Evening High School Program for the last 15 years, today was named Principal of the Year by The Washington Post.
Horine has spent his entire 50-year educational career at AACPS. He started as a science teacher at Severna Park Junior High School and then moved to Glen Burnie High School, where he later became department chairman. Nearly 40 years ago, he began to work with students in the Evening High School program and found it to be his calling.
“Even as a teacher at Severna Park Junior High School, I was especially taken with kids who were struggling,” said Horine, who was appointed principal of the Evening High School program along with Secondary Summer School and Twilight School programs in 2004. “Early on, it became a special interest of mine to be able to provide opportunities for those students to be successful.”
Under Horine’s leadership, the program Evening High School program has grown from three sites to six. A year ago, nearly 100 students earned diplomas through Evening High School. This year, nearly 120 are expected to do so.
“The chance to guide students to completion of their high school diploma requirements, even though they have had a difficult time in school, is one that is very fulfilling to me,” Horine said.