Todd Roberts
Fremont Junior High School is under new leadership, with Todd Roberts taking over as principal.
Mr. Roberts comes to this position with many years of teaching and administrative experience. Before entering education, he was in the corporate world. He loved what he did. However, at a crossroads in his career, and because he loved working with teenagers, he decided to bring his skills to the field of education.
After receiving his degree in secondary education and administration, Mr. Roberts ventured to Westwood High School for 13 years, where he was a teacher and a team leader. Summit Academy, a kindergarten through eighth-grade school in Mesa, was his next stop where he was the International Baccalaureate school coordinator and an assistant principal for six years, under the tutelage of Mark Andrews.
Mr. Roberts hails from New York, moving here in 1988. He and his wife claim to have “… the prettiest dog there ever was …,” along with two cats. In his spare time, Mr. Roberts loves to hike and bike. He completed an Ironman Triathlon in 2008. Being a New Yorker, the Giants and Yankees rank as his favorite teams, but with his wife being from Wisconsin, there is some football craziness on game days.
His passion for students and doing what is best for them is tangible as you visit with him. Junior high students are their own special brand, and Mr. Roberts recognizes this. “Their energy is all over the place,” he said, “and they are sincere with such wide ranges of maturity.” He wants all his students to be successful. Therefore, they can be successful in high school, becoming prepared for the next step in their lives and educational careers.
Knowing this success cannot be accomplished alone, he relies on his supportive, caring and unselfish staff who provide him with feedback, engage in crucial conversations and share the leadership. A plus of his job is going into the classrooms to watch his teachers engaging the students in learning.
Fremont Junior High School has many wonderful traditions, such as Coffee with the Principal, which Mr. Roberts plans on continuing. It keeps the lines of communication open and invites the parents to feel at home with the principal. “I didn’t come in to fix or repair,” Mr. Roberts said. “Fremont is a wonderful school, receiving an A rating from the state. I want to continue the great things that are going on here,” he continued. “I am proud to be part of this learning community where teaching the common core and bringing the best to our students is the goal.”
Each Mesa school has its own personality and programs, which the community identifies with as a whole. The Common Core Standards demand new ways of teaching and learning. Mr. Roberts is excited about what this means for the school. Therefore, to stay on the cutting edge and keep Fremont in the top of Arizona’s schools, three new programs are being offered.
First, Fremont Junior High School will offer the elective class of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). A total of 35 students are already enrolled. AVID is a college-readiness program, which prepares students for college by offering support through training in writing, inquiry, reading, organization and collaboration.
Second, Mesa is applying a curriculum focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Beginning in January 2014, art will be added to make it STEAM, with one class as a pilot.
Finally, four feeder schools, Jefferson, Salk, Las Sendas and Falcon Hill elementary schools, are part of bringing technology into the hands of the students by giving all the sixth-graders amplified tablets. Next year, when they attend Fremont Junior High School, they will be ready to learn with this technology. These are just three ways in which Mr. Roberts and Mesa Public Schools are thinking outside the box to meet the needs of all their students.
With Mr. Roberts leading them, Fremont Junior High School has the recipe for success, as they focus on their students’ growth by bringing them creative ways of learning, innovative technology and showing them just how fortunate they are to be Fremont Falcons.