Photo by Erin Nelson.
Danielle Tinker, the new principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, in the hallway at the school.
When Danielle Tinker saw her Aunt Tennille graduate from college with a degree in education, she was inspired to pursue a career of her own in the field.
“Seeing her graduate … let me know it was something attainable,” Tinker said.
The experience left her empowered and excited, she said.
Throughout her own education career, Tinker has been “constantly chasing” her beloved aunt, who works for a school district in Georgia.
That chase and her passion for education have now led Tinker to the principal’s role at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, where she takes over for Alicia Hunsberger, who is now the principal at Pizitz Middle School. Former Pizitz Principal Chris Pennington took a role in the district’s central office.
Tinker said she is grateful to be in the Vestavia Hills City Schools system.
“I’ve never been so appreciated for being who I am,” Tinker said. “I can be my authentic self.”
In Vestavia, Tinker said she feels valued and is allotted opportunities to share her ideas and values, whether helping with personnel decisions or serving on discussion panels.
Tinker said she’s currently on what Superintendent Todd Freeman called a “listening tour,” taking time to meet with and talk to the staff, parents and students to learn what needs to be celebrated and where there are opportunities for growth and progress. She said she’s already talked with the school’s PTO president and is excited to partner with the PTO and meet the needs of teachers.
Her new school has become known nationally for its emphasis on character education, being named a National School of Character. That’s something Tinker said she focused on during her time as assistant principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, where she has spent the past two years, one under former principal Abbie Freeman and another under Blair Inabinet this past school year.
“It’s a natural segue to a National School of Character,” Tinker said. “We focus on the whole child, not just academics.”
The staff plays a big role in making sure students feel safe and supported, she said.
“Every child in the building deserves and must have an advocate, someone to go to and know, ‘I’m being heard,’” Tinker said.
Being in education provides a different experience, sometimes daily, as children are unpredictable. “You don’t know what children are going to do,” she said.
Tinker spent time as a kindergarten teacher at Center Point Elementary and as an assistant principal at Erwin Intermediate School and said her time in those schools was a good “training ground” for her time in Vestavia.
Tinker said she enjoys sharing her story and being open and vulnerable with others.
“That’s the way that you form relationships,” Tinker said. “When I’m vulnerable and exposed, I am at my best.”
When she found out she was going to be the principal at VHECH, Tinker called and talked with her Aunt Tennille, who told Tinker she was “screaming and almost in tears” at the news.
Tinker said she enjoys meeting new people and learning new things, and said she is blessed to work with “such smart people” in the school system.
“I love what I do,” Tinker said. “It’s ever-changing.”
