Top Hawaii public secondary school leaders were honored at an awards ceremony in Waikiki on Sunday.

The honorees were Randiann Porras-Tang, principal of Waialua High and Intermediate School, and Kaimuki Middle School Principal Frank Fernandes.

Porras-Tang is the 2012 MetLife/National Association of Secondary School Principals Hawaii high school principal of the year.

Fernandes is the 2012 MetLife/NASSP Hawaii middle school principal of the year.  

The two will join their fellow state principals of the year at an awards gala in Washington, D.C., in September.

The MetLife/NASSP Principal of the Year program began in 1993 as a way to recognize outstanding secondary school leaders who have succeeded in providing high-quality learning opportunities for students, as well as exemplary contributions to their profession.  

Porras-Tang has been principal at Waialua High and Intermediate since 2007, and has helped boost student achivement at the school.

She is “a true model of collaborative leadership who recognizes, appreciates, and serves the needs of a diverse and proud community,” said WHIS Vice Principal Virgilio Basilio.

Fernandes, meanwhile, has been at Kaimuki Middle for 26 years. Under his leadership, Kaimuki Middle has attained some of the highest standardized test scores among public middle schools.

Roger Izuka, vice president of the Koko Head Lions Club, credits Fernandes for creating a “school of the heart” where “students, faculty, staff, and administrators have a significant respect for each other and their campus.”