ISLE OF WIGHT—Dr. Michael McPherson, superintendent of Isle of Wight County Schools, is one of eight school division heads in the running to be named the state Superintendent of the Year.

The Virginia Association of School Superintendents named McPherson the Region II 2010 superintendent of the year.

Region II consists of schools in Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Poquoson and Williamsburg/James City County, as well as the counties of Accomack, Isle of Wight, York, Northampton and Southampton.

“I am honored to represent the school divisions of Region II, which are among the best in Virginia,” McPherson said.

School Board Chairman David Goodrich was pleased with the news.

“It’s a great honor for the county and the superintendent to be selected by his peers as the Region II Superintendent of the Year,” Goodrich said Thursday morning. “It’s nice to have him recognized for his exceptional abilities.”

McPherson has led the county’s schools for eight years.

All nine of Isle of Wight’s public schools are fully accredited by the Virginia Department of Education this year and the division achieved Adequate Yearly Progress, as defined by the No Child Left Behind legislation.

McPherson and the other seven finalists for state superintendent of the year will be honored at the Virginia Association of School Superintendents Annual Conference next month in Roanoke. The Superintendent of the Year will be announced at the conference.

The Virginia Superintendent of the Year Selection Committee, which includes the president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, as well as the heads of several other state education associations, will meet to select the state Superintendent of the Year this month.

Charles Turner, superintendent of Southampton County Schools, was named Region II’s Superintendent of the Year in 2008.