Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Vestavia Hills City Schools Superintendent Thomas Freeman smiles after the conclusion of a brief Board of Education meeting June 11.
New Vestavia Hills City Schools Superintendent Todd Freeman is now tasked with directing one of the most successful school systems in the state, and in his first two years, he will oversee the restructuring of several schools, as well as the addition of two new campuses.
Freeman, however, is focused not on how daunting those tasks may be, but rather, the chance to continue to improve Vestavia schools, and by extension, the city itself.
“I always see more opportunities than I do challenges,” Freeman said. “The ideals of being able to provide a high-quality public education for every student is something that is beneficial not only for them, but for all of our community.”
Taking advantage of every learning opportunity is crucial to student success, Freeman said. In order to do that, Freeman said he and other school leaders are working to make sure resources and staff at each of the city’s schools are ready to go ahead of the 2018-19 school year.
“Our priority in our office is making sure we have provided the support and things that our principals need so they’re ready to go when the doors open,” Freeman said.
Freeman joins Vestavia City Schools after previously serving as superintendent in Sylacauga, where he landed after previously working at Auburn City Schools for 20 years.
Freeman said he’s grateful for his time in both systems. Auburn, he said, allowed him to learn about leadership in a system similar to Vestavia, while he saw the benefits of great community support in his time at Sylacauga.
There are a few key ingredients to a successful school system, Freeman said: great community support, family engagement, great teachers and great leaders.
“When you put all those things into the ingredients, your system is going to thrive,” he said. “I have benefited from being a part of now my third system where those components are in place.”
This year, the school will seek to expand upon STEM classes this fall, while getting ready for the accreditation process in January, Freeman said.
Major changes will come in the 2019-20 school year, with the addition of the Gresham Elementary School facility and the old Berry High School campus, as well as rezoning, which comes as an effort to more equally distribute the system’s growing student population so as to not put too much strain on any one school. Before classes begin in the fall of 2019, Vestavia Hills Elementary Central will no longer be in use, while the current Pizitz Middle School facility will be converted to a 9th-grade building, though its name will transfer to the Berry campus. With the new zoning maps in place, students will attend one of the district’s five elementary schools, with students at West, East and Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge, formerly known as Gresham, going to Pizitz Middle School, which will be on the old Berry campus, while students at Cahaba Heights and Liberty Park Elementary will go to Liberty Park Middle School.
While the new elementary campuses are being prepared for 2019-20, Freeman said there are also new additions for this upcoming year, including a new cafeteria at Vestavia Hills Elementary West, as well as an additional classroom and media center at Vestavia Hills Cahaba Heights.
As Vestavia prepares for another year, Freeman said he hopes school leaders will have a vision that will help raise an already high standard at Vestavia schools.
“We all have to continue to see a vision that is beyond what we see now, and that can be a challenge for anybody, but I choose to see it as an opportunity,” Freeman said. “... Any system or any organization that seeks to improve upon itself is always going to have to evolve. We could continue to do exactly what we’re doing now and stay a good system, but this system has never done that. It has always looked to try and find what’s the next level of excellence we want to reach.
“I want to continue to be a part of what is already a standard in Vestavia Hills City Schools,” Freeman said.
