Laurie Barron is superintendent of the Evergreen School District in Kalispell, Montana, and was named 2021 Montana Superintendent of the Year. She has been a high school English teacher and coach, a middle school assistant principal, a middle school principal, and a part-time assistant professor. A National Board–certified teacher, she was 2012 Georgia Principal of the Year and 2013 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Barron is a coauthor of the books What Parents Need to Know About Common Core and Other College-
and Career-Ready Standards and Middle School: A Place to Belong and Become and has authored numerous articles. She is also a speaker who provides motivation and professional learning to teachers and administrators throughout the United States.