Fuhrey Named 2020 Superintendent of Year

NCSS Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey Named 2020 Georgia Superintendent of the Year
Posted on 12/06/2019
Samantha Fuhrey holding Superintendent of Year AwardNewton County School Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey is Georgia’s 2020 Superintendent of the Year! She will now represent Georgia in the National Superintendent of the Year award program.

“I was honored to have been selected as a finalist for Superintendent of the Year, but to have been named Georgia’s Superintendent of the Year is absolutely incredible,” said Fuhrey. “I am so proud of the work of our Newton County School System Board of Education, administration, teachers and staff. We are all working hard to ensure we achieve our vision that all students will be well-rounded and prepared for the future!”

“I am tremendously proud but definitely not surprised that Mrs. Fuhrey is Georgia’s Superintendent of the Year,” said Shakila Henderson-Baker, chair of the Newton County Board of Education. “We are so proud of the work that she does and how that work is being celebrated among her peers. I along with our other board members, have attended numerous workshops and conferences with Mrs. Fuhrey and it has not escaped our notice that superintendents from both rural and urban districts in Georgia seek her out for advice because they recognize the quality of her work, her genuine concern for student success in the community, and her innovative practices to educate students. The Georgia Superintendent of the Year award calls for someone who is innovative, professional, and studious in their leadership, with a strong dedication to leading a public school system and that perfectly describes Samantha Fuhrey. On behalf of the entire Newton County Board of Education I congratulate Mrs. Fuhrey on a job well done.”

Mrs. Fuhrey is in her seventh year as superintendent for Newton County Schools. The first female school superintendent in county history, she has received six contract extensions from the Newton County Board of Education. In 2016, Mrs. Fuhrey was awarded the GSSA President’s Award. She also recently received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Marywood university in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Fuhrey previously served as the Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Newton County Schools. She has extensive leadership experience at the executive level as she previously served as the Executive Director for Secondary Education, the Director of Secondary Education, and the Director of Professional Learning for Newton County Schools. Before becoming a district administrator, Mrs. Fuhrey was the principal of Indian Creek Middle School in Newton County from 2005 to 2008 after having been promoted from assistant principal, a position she served from 2001 to 2005. Prior to her employment with Newton County Schools, Mrs. Fuhrey worked for the DeKalb County School System as an assistant principal and an English teacher.

Superintendent Fuhrey earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary English from Marywood University in 1991 and her master’s degree in educational leadership from State University of West Georgia in 2000. She added an education specialist’s degree in educational leadership from Georgia College and State University in 2006.

For more information, contact Ms. Sherri Davis, director of public relations for Newton County School System, at [email protected].