Susan Proffitt, principal of Holman Middle School, was named the runner-up for the 2025 REB Award for Distinguished Educational Leadership for Henrico County Public Schools.
The Community Foundation and the REB Foundation present the award to four winning principals and four runners-up annually from the school divisions of Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties and city of Richmond. Arainau "Rainy" Neal, principal of Maude Trevvett Elementary School, was this year's winner for HCPS.
The REB award recognizes principals who go beyond the day-to-day demands of their jobs to create an exceptional educational environment. The award stresses management and communication skills, and the ability to inspire, encourage and advocate for the school. Nominees must have served as principal at their school for at least three years.
“It was just an honor to be nominated by teachers,” Proffitt said after being surprised with the award at Holman by family, staff and HCPS leadership. “They're the ones that are doing such hard work every single day. To be nominated by them just makes me feel like I'm supporting them every day they need to be supported. And I'm just excited because everything is for programs here at school."
Proffitt will receive a $10,000 grant to establish the Huskie CARE Camp at Holman for multilingual learners. The camp would comprise 16 afternoon meetings, field trips and monthly family dinners to improve access to educational programs, foster community engagement and expand opportunities to acquire new language skills.
"We have a lot of multilingual learners here at Holman, and we just want to support them. There's just always more we can do. We do a lot — we put so much in place for all of our students. And there's more we can do, and we want to continue to do more, so that's what this is about."
Proffitt has been principal at Holman since 2019. Before that she served as associate principal at Tuckahoe Middle School and assistant principal at Quioccasin Middle School.
She joined HCPS in 2010 as a math teacher at J.R. Tucker High School, after holding the same position at Manchester High School in Chesterfield County. She earned a bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Richmond, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University.
For more about the REB Award for Distinguished Educational Leadership, visit cfrichmond.org/receive/scholars-educators/educators/leadership.