Madrona principal wins $50,000 award

Kaaren Andrews isn't much for surprises. But the Madrona K-8 principal had to admit this was a good one.

Seattle School District leaders, Madrona staff members, friends and even Andrews' parents gathered Wednesday morning in the school's library to award Andrews the Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence for outstanding leadership.

Andrews, called to the library 30 minutes before the start of school without much explanation, found herself speechless.

"I'm really rarely surprised, and I'm also, as all of you know, very rarely at a loss for words," she said.

The Alliance for Education and Seattle Public Schools academic leaders choose an annual recipient for the $50,000 Foster award, named for Tom Foster, a founder of the Seattle law firm Foster Pepper and a Seattle civic leader.

In the past, the award has been $25,000. The Alliance and the school district are granting an additional $25,000 to two past winners: Chief Sealth High School principal John Boyd and Meany Middle School principal Princess Shareef.

Seattle Public Schools Chief Academic Officer Carla Santorno praised Andrews' consistent work on student achievement.

"Success with kids is not magic," she said. "It's about hard work."

Andrews, 36, who is in her fourth year as principal at Madrona, is known for her "every minute counts" motto, which she repeats to students lingering in the halls during class. Her no-nonsense style hasn't come without controversy, and last school year a group of parents pulled their kids out of the school, saying it wasn't welcoming of their offers to help improve the school with donations and volunteer hours.

Madrona is 75 percent African American in a gentrifying neighborhood.

District Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson said Andrews' "relentless focus on the academic success of all students" has helped raise Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores, especially in reading and writing. Seventh-grade writing scores rose nearly 30 percent between 2005-07.

Andrews said the school likely will spend at least some of the award money on books.

"It's a little bit strange to get an award, because it's just such a team effort," she said. "It's not really me. It's the whole school."

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com