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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia Hills Freshman Academy on May 28.
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Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills City Schools.
David Howard has been named the new principal of the Freshman Campus after serving as an assistant principal during its inaugural year.
There is now another school in the Vestavia Hills school system.
The Vestavia Hills Freshman Campus will now operate as its own school with its own leaders, though it will still work in close relationship with the nearby Vestavia Hills High School.
The freshman campus began last year as an extension of the high school, a dedicated space for ninth grade students that allowed them to adjust to high school life while forming bonds with students from the system’s two middle schools. It also freed up some much-needed space at the high school.
Tonya Rozell, the principal at the high school, oversaw the school last year with the help of assistant principals David Howard and Jennifer Brown. The school had to operate for a year before becoming its own campus with its own principal.
Howard has been named principal, and he’ll take the lead after more than 20 years in the school system.
He began teaching science at Pizitz Middle School in 1997, moved to the high school in 2002 to take longtime Coach Sammy Dunn’s assistant principal position so Dunn could focus solely on baseball. In 2013, Howard began a three-year stint at the central office before moving back to the high school in 2016 and to the freshman campus in 2020.
“When you are the person who has helped create a new vision and a new school, you want to continue what you started,” Howard said. “You put a lot of heart and soul into it.”
The freshman campus becoming its own school means it has some autonomy, but it still must work closely with the high school because they are closely aligned in both academics and student involvement. Students at the freshman campus can still be involved with extracurricular activities at the high school.
“It’s still a new concept,” Howard said.
There will continue to be morning and afternoon shuttles to transport students to and from the two campuses, with the freshman campus at the former Pizitz Middle School off Pizitz Drive.
While courses are separate at the freshman campus, Howard said there are efforts to mirror the main campus, so students get accustomed to high school life.
Still, there are some challenges, such as finding ways to get students to events that typically are shared all students in grades 9-12, such as pep rallies. Both Howard and Rozell are working to find ways to make that happen.
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The first year was a success, especially given the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Rozell and Howard said.
“We were able to do much of what we wanted to do,” Howard said.
Rozell said the past year reminded her of the strength of Vestavia Hills City Schools. “There is excellence in Vestavia,” she said.
With any new school, there is a need for leaders to step up, and that happened throughout the school system, Rozell said. Everyone was focused on helping the new campus achieve and meet its goal, she said.
Having people such as Howard and Brown allowed Rozell to focus on the main campus, knowing that the freshman campus was in good hands, she said.
Howard said he saw the importance of communication and solving problems as they arise.
Ninth grade students have also benefited from having their own separate campus, Rozellsaid.
“It’s a developmental year for our ninth graders,” Rozell said. “Now we have a year where we can develop these kids. … It gives them time to mature. If you’re going to make a mistake … a lot of coaching and teaching can happen before 10th grade.”
