Dr. Kimberly Weeldreyer, Fountain Hills Middle School’s new principal, is a local girl. She’s spent most of her life in Arizona and over 20 years in special education. She also has experience as a professional development coach, and she’s a national champion winning college track coach.

Weeldreyer grew up in Arizona and spent her freshman year of college at UC Irvine. She ran track and was coached by Olympian Steve Scott, but she came back home and finished her undergraduate degree at Grand Canyon University (GCU). Later, she went back to school to earn a master's degree in special education and a doctorate in educational leadership and teacher innovation from Arizona State University.

“I always tell my son, I liked school for so long that I kept going,” Weeldreyer said.

Weeldreyer taught classes at GCU while working on her doctorate, which allowed her to apply for coaching positions. She became the head coach of the cross country team after she brought it back into existence, and she was also an assistant to the track team. Weeldreyer was part of GCU’s 2012 men’s indoor Division II national championship team.

“Some of my goals…was to be a professor and to be a college coach,” Weeldreyer said. “Because I really admired my teachers at the high school level, at the college level, and I had amazing coaches. I want to be just like that, too. So, when I got the opportunity, I ran with it.”

Weeldreyer was a special education teacher before going back to school, and after she earned her doctorate, Weeldreyer went to work as a special education strategist for Peoria Unified School District. Her focus on teacher innovation was “coteaching,” which combined special and general education classrooms.

According to Weeldreyer, coteaching keeps students included with their peers and helps increase scores. She added that, in this day and age, having a second teacher in the classroom is beneficial for everyone.

Weeldreyer did most of her professional development coaching as a strategist. She solicited feedback from teachers around Peoria and sat in classrooms in different schools to see what classroom issues were trends and which were isolated incidents. She would work with other administrators to determine the biggest needs, and then put staff together to provide that development.

“It’s one of those things where some people like professional development, but then again, it could be sometimes too much,” Weeldreyer said. “But I also think that if you’re implementing new programming, [professional development] just needs to be ongoing. It needs to be embedded into our training as needed. A lot of things need to be ongoing because we all need a refresher.”

Weeldreyer has spent almost her entire career in large school systems and districts, so Fountain Hills will be a change of pace for her. However, it’s a change she’s excited for. She noticed in her first few days at the office that everyone does a little extra in a small district, and since Weeldreyer is a self-described busy bee, she said “bring it” to all the work.

Weeldreyer is in the process of interviewing assistant principal candidates and getting the school ready for kids. School starts on Tuesday, Aug. 9, and families will come the day before to meet the teachers on Monday, Aug. 8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Weeldreyer said her free time has yet to be determined, but she’ll find opportunities to relax and enjoy her hobbies. Exercising is important to Weeldreyer, and she and her husband started to walk together for an hour every day during the pandemic. They continue to walk daily, and Weeldreyer would like to do something similar with the local community.

“When it gets a little cooler, I want to do after-school walks and talks with me,” Weeldreyer said. “People can come and meet up after school. We can go for a walk either in our community, or up on our awesome track, just to get to know me a little better.”

Weeldreyer also wants to have a monthly coffee or tea meeting open to parents, but those details have yet to be arranged.

Weeldreyer started to connect with her colleagues this summer and she looks forward to meeting the rest. It didn’t take long for her to befriend Mary McDonald, a science teacher and cross country coach at Fountain Hills Middle School. The two exchanged running shoes after meeting each other once in the school parking lot.

Weeldreyer is excited to start the school year and make more connections in town. Even for those who don’t like to run, there are many things she’s willing to bond over. Just ask her about the Arizona Cardinals; she and her husband are season ticket holders.