DURHAM Barbara Parker (right), principal of Spring Valley Elementary School, has been named Principal of the Year for Durham Public Schools in a program sponsored by the state Department of Public Instruction and Wells Fargo Inc.

Spring Valley's principal since 2010, Parker has worked in Durham's public schools since 1979, starting in the former county system as a special-education teacher at Southern High School. She was an assistant principal at Bethesda Elementary and Carrington Middle schools before becoming principal of R.N. Harris Elementary.

Parker spent 10 years at Harris before moving to Spring Valley, where she won a Leadership Excellence Award for the school's improvement.

For winning the honor in Durham, Harris continues as a candidate for state Principal of the Year. That winner is to be announced next spring.