Guilford Resident Receives 'Outstanding School Superintendent' Award

Paul S. Freeman has been selected to receive the Outstanding School Superintendent Award from the Neag School of Education Alumni Society of the University of Connecticut. Freeman was recently recognized at the 16th Annual Awards Dinner of the Neag School of Education.

Freeman has served as the superintendent of Guilford Public Schools in Guilford, CT since November 2011. His work in Guilford - which has earned him the respect of colleagues, faculty, parents and students - has included efforts in advocating for extensive embedded professional development, expanding in-house special education services in order to improve the quality of learning for students with special needs, and working to thoughtfully shape and adopt changes in a teacher evaluation system that will support teachers and facilitate deep levels of student learning moving forward.

A Connecticut educator for 20 years, Freeman started his career teaching middle and high school English in Woodbridge, CT and later moved to an administrative role as an assistant principal in East Lyme in 1998. From there he progressed to principal and assistant superintendent. He served as superintendent in Griswold from 2009 to 2011.

Freeman graduated from Neag School of Education in 2009 with an Ed.D. in educational leadership. He has been a professor of practice in the school’s Executive Leadership Program and Five Year Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program since then.  He is a member of a team of professors currently developing a partnership with Queen Rania’s Teachers’ Academy in Aman Jordan, bringing Uconn’s principal preparation program, for the first time, into the Middle East.

“Dr. Freeman is a unique and special leader. His ability to think strategically in a way that utilizes the best of educational research while translating that into practical and understandable application is impressive beyond compare,” said David R. Kennedy, chief operating officer of United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, who serves as a member of the Closing the Achievement Gap Task Force for the State of Connecticut along with Freeman.

“His is a major voice in what is emerging as the Master Plan to Eliminate the Achievement Gap in Connecticut.” continued Kennedy.

Freeman also actively serves as an executive board member of LEARN, a regional educational service center serving 25 school districts in southeastern/shoreline Connecticut.

In 2010, Freeman received the James P. Garvin Distinguished Service Award from the New England League of Middle Schools.