Renton School District Superintendent Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel is one of the top four finalists in the running for the 2011 National Superintendent of the Year Program.

Before the start of the school winter break in December, she received a call from one of the executive directors of the American Association of School Administrators inviting her into the next phase of the competition. The four finalists will be interviewed by a national blue-ribbon selection panel of educators, business people and government officials at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 11.

The four national finalists were chosen from 49 state superintendent of the year finalists. Heuschel was named the 2011 state Superintendent of the Year in Spokane last November.

The other finalists are Phinnize J. Fisher, superintendent of the Greenville County School System in South Carolina; Marcus P. Johnson, superintendent of the Sanger Unified School District in California; and Tom Trigg, superintendent of the Blue Valley Unified School District in Kansas.

“AASA is pleased to recognize these four outstanding superintendents,” said AASA Executive Director Daniel A. Domenech in a press release. “Their dedication to transforming schools, providing quality education for all students, and working with the school community to advance student success represents the best in school system leadership today.”

The winner will be announced at AASA’s National Conference on Education on Feb. 17 in Denver, Colorado. The program, in its 24th year, is co-sponsored by ARAMARK Education, ING and AASA and celebrates the contributions and leadership of public school superintendents.

A $10,000 college scholarship will be presented in the name of the National Superintendent of the Year to a student in the high school from which the superintendent graduated, or the school now serving the same area.