Congratulations to Dr. Nick Zapadka who was recognized as the FCPS 2021 Region 2 Outstanding New Principal and one of the five finalists for the FCPS Outstanding New Principal at this year's FCPS Honors event, held at Jiffy Lube Live on June 9th.

Nick believes that his school’s success is based on a unique interplay between responsive instruction, a caring, multicultural community, and collective leadership. As principal of Freedom Hill, Nick has fostered these traits and developed a community in which students, staff, and parents love to learn and know that their experiences are valued. On a typical day, you might find Nick delivering “Virtually Unstoppable” signs to community homes, supporting his equity team’s efforts to bring new understandings to staff, modeling his role as “lead learner” by facilitating a concurrent technology meeting, or simply enjoying some time on the playground with students. Nick’s infectious hope for his school is captured in their theme this unusual year – “Near or Far: Always Learning Together!”

• Visit Principal Zapadka's page on the FCPS website. 

Congratulations to our following staff members who were also recognized at this year's FCPS Honors Ceremony!

Outstanding Elementary New Teacher School and Pyramid-Level Recipient

• Melanie Callihan, First Grade Teacher

Outstanding School-Based Operational Employee School-Level Recipient

• Sey-Lu Sujo Romero, Student Information Assistant

Outstanding School-Based Professional Employee School-Level Recipient

• Craig Fenton, Technology Support Specialist

Outstanding Elementary Teacher School-Level Recipient

• Jessica Curran, Third Grade Teacher

Outstanding School-Based Leader School-Level Recipient

• Eric Kopacz, Assistant Principal

Thank you to Lisa Bliss for all of her hard work with the nomination process by serving as this year's awards liaison.