Beloit elementary school principal named tops in Wisconsin

BELOIT — Sam Karns, who is in his third year as principal of Todd Elementary in the School District of Beloit, was named the elementary school principal of the year Monday in a surprise announcement by the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators.

In March, Karns learned that he was one of a handful of recipients of the Herb Kohl Principal Leadership Award. He was led to believe that Monday’s celebration in the Todd Elementary gymnasium was to celebrate that honor.

“This is a big win for Todd and I’m excited for the community,” Karns said after the celebration, which included lots of confetti, a big hit for elementary school students. “We’re doing some really great work here at the school, at the district, in the community. The sky is the limit. Everything we are doing is moving us in the right direction.”

A look online at the history of the two awards shows that Karns appears to be the first recipients of each honor (Leadership Award and Principal of the Yeaar) from the Beloit region, not just the district.

Jim Lynch, executive director of the AWSA, who was on hand Monday, said there are more than 1,800 principals in the state. A team representing teachers, school board members, superintendents, parents review all the nominations and scores them. Karns was the highest scoring principal among the state’s elementary schools.

“The school, as a whole, you see attendance up, you see outcomes up, you see the community getting more involved and people are excited to bring their kids here,” Lynch said.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction School Report Cards, attendance rose from 78.4% in 2021-2022, the year before Karns took over Todd, to 90.5% in 2023-2024. In 2022-2023, the school received an overall score of 43.8 from the state based and a one-star rating to a 58.6 in last year and a three-star rating. Todd is a K4 through fifth grade school at 1621 Oakwood Ave.

There are some perks to go along with the recognition. The winners of the Herb Kohl Leadership Award and their schools each receive $6,000 grants from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation. The AWSA honor comes with a trip to Washington, D.C. where he’ll get a chance to meet the principals of the year from the other 49 states.

Karns, who is from Texas, has never been to Washington, D.C.

“I’m a history fan so I can’t wait to get there,” Karns said, “But I’m even more excited to be able to meet and learn from all of the principals who are doing so much to move education forward.”

Karns got his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2007. In 2013, he added a master’s degree from Texas A&M University. He was a middle school assistant principal in Houston, Texas when he moved to Beloit to be principal at The Lincoln Academy in May 2021. He was there just two months before accepting an assistant principal job for Beloit schools. He was named Todd Elementary principal in July 2022.

“This is a huge honor. There are thousands of principals in Wisconsin and one of our own is the principal of the year,” Beloit Superintendent Willie Garrison II said. “Sometimes in the midst of the news we don’t want to hear, this is the news we do want to hear. Once again, we have what it takes to get the job done and it’s the people here who can get the job done.”