Alumna Jill Pittman honored by national program

Goodlettsville Middle School Principal Jill Pittman (BSEd '85) in Nashville, Tennessee, has been elected for a prestigious two-year fellowship with "America Achieves," a national organization which works to build high-quality educational systems through professional training.

The America Achieves program brings together diverse principals and teachers to promote college and career readiness in American public schools. The America Achieves fellowship helps to focus development around raising important topics like raising expectations, advancing the teaching profession, family engagement and education policy.

Pittman came to Nashville in 2006 from Jacksonville, Florida, where she served as a K-12 administrator for seven years. She began work in Metro Nashville Public Schools at the Freshmen Academy at Antioch High and then spent over five years as Head of School for J.T. Moore's International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. She led Overton High's Academy of Information Technology for two years before coming to Goodlettsville Middle Prep as principal.

Pittman grew up in the Atlanta area and earned her bachelor's degree in foreign language education from UGA. She taught Spanish and other subjects in both public and private secondary schools in Atlanta and Savannah for 10 years.  She completed her master's degree in educational leadership at Georgia Southern University and completed her PhD in public administration at Tennessee State University's Institute of Government in the College of Public Service and Urban Affairs.

Pittman has held numerous leadership positions as the state and local levels in both professional and civic organizations. She was twice appointed to Florida's Charter School Advisory Panel by the Florida State Senate. She was named a delegate to the College Board's 2009 Bridge to China program, the Stand for Children's State Task Force on Teacher and Principal Quality. She was Metro's Academy Principal of the Year and Administrator of the Year for Professional Educators of Tennessee in 2014.