The Utopian Academy Governing Board has appointed Travis Joshua, a veteran educator with more than 20 years of experience in leading traditional public schools and performing arts and STEM magnet schools, as the new principal of Utopian Academy for the Arts Middle School. He has been tasked with increasing academic achievement, expanding community partnerships, and elevating the student experience at Utopian Academy Charter School Network’s flagship school, which will soon begin its 11th year of serving students on Aug. 1, 2024.
His appointment was effective on July 15, 2024.
“Mr. Joshua has a stellar background as an educator and a veteran administrator. He has led both a performing arts magnet school and STEM magnet school and has a deep understanding of STEAM (Science, Technology, Education, Arts, and Mathematics) education strategies, which are essential for developing creative minds,” said Pamela Dingle, executive director of the Utopian Academy for the Arts Charter School Network. “We are pleased to have him join us as the middle school principal and welcome him to the Utopian Academy for the Arts family. I am sure he will be an effective principal who will set high standards for teaching and learning.”
Mr. Joshua comes to the UAFA Charter Network during a milestone school year: The Georgia Charter Schools Association has named Utopian Academy as Georgia’s Charter School of the Year, citing its creative use of industry collaborations to enhance teaching and learning as being innovative and worthy of recognition. UAFA schools have established partnerships with Grammy Award-winning singers, Hollywood actors, The Atlanta Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, The Alliance Theatre, True Colors Theatre, Trilith Studios, the home of Marvel movie magic, The Trilith Institute among others.
The UAFA Charter Network is working to produce a pipeline of homegrown entertainment industry talent with hands-on experience in acting, directing, stage production and management, filmmaking, screenwriting, filmscoring, animation, and more to compete for jobs in the entertainment industry. Georgia leads the nation in the production of feature films. The film industry generated $4.1 billion for the state in Fiscal Year 2023.
The Utopian Academy Governing Board and leadership team hired Mr. Joshua last week to fill a leadership vacancy at the middle school. With a track record as principal at both a performing arts high school and a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) magnet high school, Mr. Joshua was an ideal candidate to become the next principal of UAFA Middle.
“It has always been my desire to see all schools in an organization win together,” Mr. Joshua said. “Whatever I can give to the network, however, I can support other principals and teachers, I am here to serve for the greater good of us all.”
This will be Mr. Joshua’s first experience leading a charter school, and he is planning to take advantage of the flexibility that will be within his reach. “Charter schools offer the flexibility of being able to be more out-of-the-box and to utilize industry professionals,” he said. “We have some people with real-world experience at Utopian Academy who can provide real-world applications for students on how lessons relate to their career experiences.”
Mr. Joshua comes to Utopian Academy after having worked as an assistant principal and principal at Cobb County Schools for 16 years. He spent eight of those years leading Lindley Middle School of Mableton, which has an enrollment of 1,096 students, and Pebblebrook High School, which educates 2,463 performing arts scholars. Under his leadership as principal, the Cobb County schools added technological upgrades to expand online learning opportunities and increase enrichment support for students.
He also implemented targeted strategies to use data-driven instruction and collaborative teams to boost student achievement. As a result, Lindley was named a Title I Reward School for two consecutive years and Pebblebrook saw scores on the state math exam double. Student performance in English Language Arts and social studies, content mastery, and the graduation rate at Pebblebrook also increased.
Joshua realized similar success as principal of Lithia Springs High School in Douglas County. He collaborated with stakeholders to launch community outreach programs that increased parent involvement by 15%. And his laser focus on academic knowledge and skills mastery helped to boost student progress on state exams by double-digits. The CCRPI (College and Career Readiness Performance Index) Progress score was 92% up from 79% pre-Covid, leading all high schools in Douglas County. In addition, his strategic planning led to recertification of the STEM program also earning Lithia Springs High an Advanced Placement STEM designation.
“The key ingredient to my success has been having staff members that bought into the vision of becoming a highfunctioning collaborative team. Working together to increase student achievement has been a total team effort. I am one who believes in shared decision-making and ensuring that teachers have a voice,” Mr. Joshua said. “I have been very fortunate in leading staffs with solid professional learning communities who collaborate with their peers every week and analyze data based on common assessments they have given to students and adjust instruction based on that data.”
Mr. Joshua plans to implement similar professional learning communities at UAFA and strategies that give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of skills outside of testing. “I have never believed that everything begins and ends with a single test,” he said. Mr. Joshua also plans to establish a principal’s advisory council, schedule quarterly curriculum nights, and invite the community to coffee and conversation sessions with the principal. “I am relationship-oriented and believe in community schools,” he said. “I invite parents and the community to come and see what is going on at Utopian Academy for the arts Middle School and have a seat at the table.”
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 raised by the Joshuas.
