Educators that Excel: Dr. Freda Hamilton
Story by Olivia Putnal DeLong | Photo by Sara Hanna
Current School: Sarah Smith Elementary School
Years in Education: 25
Hometown: Chickamauga, Georgia
Favorite neighborhood stops: Bistro Niko and Kyma
There’s something (well, a lot of things) about Dr. Freda Hamilton, program administrator at Buckhead’s Sarah Smith Elementary School, that inspires a smile. Maybe it’s the remarkable Mr. Potato Head collection displayed on the shelves of her office, but we think it’s more than that. Evident from the hundreds of handwritten notes from students that line her filing cabinets, 51-year-old Hamilton is one of the most beloved staff members at the school. Her spunky, school-spirited attitude is contagious. The students at Sarah Smith want to come to school because they love it and they love learning—that can attributed to Hamilton.
Hamilton wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do when she started out, but she always loved kids. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Kennesaw State University, she began coaching basketball and substitute teaching at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. She knew then that teaching was her calling. She later received her master’s from the University of West Georgia and became a physical education teacher in Cobb County. She taught P.E. for nine years until her administration encouraged her to explore leadership opportunities, which led to her earning a doctorate in administration (taking classes with Nova Southeastern University on the weekends here in Atlanta). After a five-year administration stint in Cobb County, she was offered the assistant principal position at Sarah Smith, where she has been ever since.
“I love the relationships I build with my kids,” she says. “When they come here as kindergarteners they have just turned five, but by the time they leave here as fifth-graders, they are young adults ready for middle school.”
The parents at Sarah Smith are in total agreement that Hamilton is the best of the best. Parent and substitute teacher Kimberley Simms feels she has changed her daughter’s life.
“From the very first moment I met Dr. Freda Hamilton, I knew I had met a true, authentic, devoted and genuinely committed person—someone who was an excellent administrator,” Simms says. “It’s not often you find a person who is both a great leader and administrator, but also has a genuine heart of caring and compassion for her students, her staff and parents alike.”
On any given day, you can find Hamilton running the car rider lane, getting to know parents and students and going above and beyond her job description. She’s established a family-like community that parents and students are proud to be a part of. She encourages her students and staff by dressing up as Dr. Seuss during the annual Read-a-Thon and attending students’ birthday parties or soccer games on weekends, because it’s what she loves to do.
When she steps outside Sarah Smith, the fun doesn’t stop. You might find Hamilton fly-fishing in the Blue Ridge Mountains or dining at a local Buckhead eatery. And her students look forward to seeing her outside of school because she brings excitement and cheer to the entire community.
