Meet Principal Joshua
Travis Joshua is an experienced educator with 25 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal. As the new principal of Utopian Academy for the Arts-Ellenwood, he is excited about the opportunity to continue building a strong sense of community and collaboration with arts integration being the primary focus to drive student achievement.
As a principal with the Cobb County School District, Joshua had the pleasure of leading Lindley (Sixth Grade Academy) Middle School and Pebblebrook High School a performing arts magnet. Under his leadership at Lindley, student achievement data increased earning the school the designation of a Title I Reward School for High Progress for two consecutive years. While serving at Pebblebrook, Joshua led the staff to experience notable improvements in student achievement. Content Mastery scores grew across all core subjects with math seeing the biggest increase from 23.1 to 51.4 over his four-year tenure. During that same time, the Graduation Rate increased by 15%. Joshua was successful in establishing professional learning communities and supporting educators through their professional journeys all while maintaining a high standard of education for students.
Travis Joshua, Principal UAFA Middle School
Following successes at Lindley Middle School and Pebblebrook High School, Joshua transitioned to the Douglas County School System to lead Lithia Springs High School a national and state-certified STEM magnet school, amid a global pandemic. During his tenure, his intentional focus on building the capacity of teachers to support students in a hybrid setting and creating a collaborative culture through professional learning communities led to an increase in 8 out of 9 performance indicators of the CCRPI. Most notably, the graduation rate increased to 84.2 and the Progress score increased to 92.1 which outpaced all the high schools in the district. Under his leadership, Lithia Springs High School successfully obtained recertification of the STEM magnet program through Cognia and was named an AP STEM school.
Mr. Joshua has an Education Specialist degree from Georgia State University and a Master of Education Leadership degree from Clark Atlanta University, where he also received his bachelor’s degree. He and his wife of 24 years, Shanika Joshua, have two children, Grace, 9, and Taylar Wilson, 29, a nephew they raised. Mr. Joshua’s approach to education is embodied in the following quote he penned. “The practice of education is not just a profession; it must be your passion. Education is not just a career, but a higher calling!”