NASHUA — Principal David Ryan of Nashua High School North has been selected as a finalist for a prestigious national program honoring school administrators.

This week, Ryan was named one of three high school principal finalists in the 2013 National Principal of the Year Program sponsored by MetLife and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

“When he took over the urban school just two years after it opened, Ryan was excited to work with the committed staff. He established high expectations, carefully sought teacher buy-in and created a culture that underscores shared ownership and collaboration,” said a release issued by MetLife and the association. “Under Ryan’s leadership and direction, student learning has improved exponentially through better instruction, and Nashua North has become a place that all students are proud to attend.”

Earlier this year, Ryan was named the 2012 recipient of the Charles A. Napoli Secondary Principal of the Year for New Hampshire. Because of that honor, Ryan was among a pool of talented school administrators nationwide who were considered for the national principal of the year spot.

Upon learning of his selection as a finalist, Ryan said he was excited and shocked, saying he really didn’t think a representative from New Hampshire would be chosen again since Principal Robert Manseau of Campbell High School in Litchfield was a finalist last year.

“This is a huge honor, and I was very, very surprised,” Ryan said on Thursday. “I just hope I can do a good job for New Hampshire.”

The finalists, including Ryan, will be interviewed on July 24 in Washington, D.C., by a panel of judges seeking to name one middle school and one high school principal as the 2013 MetLife/NASSP National Principals of the Year.

“During David’s tenure, Nashua North has seen the focus change from the teacher teaching, to the student learning,” Keith Richard, assistant principal at Nashua North, said in a statement. “He has worked hard to ensure that all Nashua North students are given an opportunity to the best education.”

According to the release, Ryan was selected because of his significant contributions to student achievement, which reduced the school’s failure rate from 10.4 percent in 2007-2008 to 6.5 percent in 2010-2011.

Ryan also set the foundation for incoming freshman by visiting local middle schools, creating a freshmen open house event, promoting a freshmen academy and working with colleagues to focus solely on ninth-graders for the opening day of school.

The six finalists — three principals at the high school level and three at the middle school level — will receive a $1,500 grant, and the top two national award winners will obtain an additional $3,500 grant to be used to promote the advancement of learning opportunities for students, capital improvements, technology or other education programs.

Ryan said that the grant will likely be used as seed money to expand an existing summer Kick Start program that helps students transition into high school, which will now continue from ninth to tenth grade.

Ryan has been principal at Nashua High School North since 2006. His leadership philosophy, he said earlier, it to do whatever is necessary to make students succeed.

“I want kids to understand that this school is theirs. I wanted a student-centered school to be the focus, without giving away the keys. We built this for them,” he said previously, adding it has been a collaborative effort between parents, teachers and administrators.

During Ryan’s tenure, the annual dropout rate has declined from 3 percent to 1.27 percent. He also led the school through its first accreditation with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

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Kimberly Houghton may be reached at khoughton@newstote.com.