Mann takes over at freshman campus

Bill Mann went into teaching to make a difference for students.

“It was the desire to pour into the lives of others,” he said.

Mann now will have the chance to lead both students and teachers as he steps into the principal’s role at the Vestavia Hills High School Freshman Campus for the 2022-23 school year.

Mann called the campus the “perfect environment” and said his new role will make him more teacher-focused as opposed to being student-focused.

From 2000 to 2004, Mann worked as a teacher, before leaving the field for six years to work in corporate America. While in the corporate world, Mann said he felt a “tug in my heart” to get back into teaching. He sees teaching as a responsibility that helps build a better world for students.

He first started back in education as a teacher at Simmons Middle School in 2010 and then went to Pizitz Middle School for six years, beginning in 2014. Mann also coached softball at Pizitz. In 2020, he joined the staff at the freshman campus as an assistant principal.

Over the years, Mann said teaching has taught him how much people matter and the importance of being empathetic toward others.

“Everybody has a story,” Mann said.

Mann will replace David Howard, a longtime Vestavia Hills educator who is retiring at the end of this school year. Howard served as an assistant principal at multiple schools and helped open the freshman campus in 2020.

“I’ve grown to call him a friend,” Mann said. “He always has sound advice.”

Howard has been a good advisor and mentor for him, Mann said.

Mann said he wants to be the best principal he can for the campus and make sure that it is defined as having a specific purpose.

“It’s easy to see it as capacity release, but that’s not how it needs to be defined,” Mann said.

The freshman campus allows ninth grade students to get a taste of high school while benefiting from what Mann called “safety nets” to help them grow. It is not a fourth year of middle school, he said.

The goal is to make sure it stays connected to the main campus by busing students over for pep rallies and RISE Day and other events, Mann said. Students also will have more courses from which to choose in the future, an effort by the school system to allow students to start on a chosen academic path toward graduation early in their academic careers.

Going through the Vestavia Hills Leadership Program taught Mann the importance of being committed to student learning “without limits,” to borrow from the school system’s mission statement, and being a bigger part of the community, which he said separates Vestavia Hills from other school systems.

Vestavia Hills City Schools Superintendent Todd Freeman said Mann will be a great leader for the young campus.

“Mr. Mann has served Vestavia Hills City Schools as a teacher, coach and assistant principal,” Freeman said. “He has a reputation of being a successful leader in each of those positions. He will be a great leader for the stellar faculty and staff at the Freshman Campus.”