By Barry Wise Smith Photo by Jordan Wald
When Dr. Todd Freeman, superintendent of Vestavia Hills City Schools (VHCS), headed to the School Superintendents of Alabama (SSA) conference in Orange Beach this summer, he already felt like a winner. Selected by his peers to represent his district as a nominee for superintendent of the year, Freeman was humbled by the nomination. “When your peers are involved and make that decision, it’s quite an honor,” Freeman says. “In this area, I’m surrounded by exceptional school leaders, so to even be in consideration is a huge honor.”
At the SSA conference, Freeman and the other eight nominees were interviewed by a panel, and at a luncheon later in the week, Freeman was named Alabama’s 2026 Superintendent of the Year. “It was a surprise,” Freeman says, “and truly humbling to be given this.” Freeman follows in the footsteps of other local superintendents who have recently won this honor: Dr. Dicky Barlow, superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools, received the honor in 2023, and Dr. Walter Gonsoulin, Jr., from Jefferson County Schools was named both the State Superintendent of the Year and the National Superintendent of the Year in 2025.
Freeman is VHCS’ seventh superintendent and has served in the role since March 2018. Prior to coming to Vestavia Hills, Freeman served as the superintendent in Sylacauga for five years and worked in the Auburn school system for 20 years. Originally from Clay County, Freeman has a bachelor’s degree in secondary social science from Jacksonville State University, a master’s in secondary social science from Auburn University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Valdosta State University in Georgia.
Since Freeman took the system’s reins in 2018, a new strategic plan was developed, and the system’s accreditation was renewed in 2019. His leadership team also implemented a comprehensive school restructuring and rezoning plan, which led to the opening of Vestavia Hills Elementary School Dolly Ridge in 2019 and the new campus of Louis Pizitz Middle School on the site of the former Berry High School and the Vestavia Hills High School Freshman Campus in the former Pizitz facility in 2020.
Future Focused
Freeman is now focused on the future, including the upcoming school year. “Summer is a busy time,” he says. “We’re in the midst of budgeting season, so we’re prioritizing how we’re going to spend our dollars.” Taking advantage of the absence of students and teachers, summer is also when facilities work happens. “Our system is 54 years old, and many of the facilities fall in that range,” Freeman says. “So, we have work to do on our aging facilities.”
The last six months was also spent revising the system’s 2019 strategic plan. During the “very collaborative process,” stakeholders—teachers, students, administrators, parents and community leaders—developed a value statement centered around excellence, safety, character and community to shape the system’s strategic goals. “Those are the four cornerstones we build our strategic plan around,” Freeman says. “We rewrote our value statement to live up to our mission for every student to have the opportunity to learn without limits.” Having concluded the process, Freeman presented and recommended the new plan and goals to the board at their July 21 meeting.
Another important summer task is hiring new teachers and staff. “The most important thing we do in our system is hire and keep the very best employees we can,” Freeman says. “We hire the best and then work constantly on ways to best support our teachers. In the end, teachers are the most important factor to the success of the students. We want to make sure they’re resourced and supported well and receive all the opportunities for growth and advancement they want.”
While Vestavia Hills is consistently on the list of the state’s best public school systems, Freeman does not want to rest on their laurels. “The expectation is that we have top-notch schools,” he says. “We want to be known as a system that is always trying to improve itself. We never want to just rest on our history of excellence.”
On August 12, Dr. Freeman and Vestavia Hill’s City Manager Jeff Downes will speak about the school system’s important relationship with the city at the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon. For more information or to register, visit vestaviahills.org.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL CALENDAR
Homewood City Schools
homewood.k12.al.us
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 21
Hoover City Schools
hoovercityschools.net
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 21
Mountain Brook City Schools
mtnbrook.k12.al.us
First Day for Students: August 11
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 22
Shelby County Schools
shelbyed.k12.al.us
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 22
Vestavia Hills City Schools
vhcs.us
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 2
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 21
