On Aug. 6 Fountain Hills Charter School will usher in a new class of students for the first day of the 2019-2020 school year.

Along with welcoming a new class of kids, FHCS will also welcome new leadership with principal, William Ambos.

Ambos is coming to FHCS after working in public education for nearly two decades.

“I have been teaching in the state of Arizona since 2001 and I have been an administrator for the past four years,” Ambos said. “I have taught a variety of things over the years, everything from social studies to AIMS intervention.”

But Ambos didn’t start out in the education field. In fact, he was far from it.

Ambos originally dreamed of being a professional baseball player and “bounced around” the minor leagues for around eight years.

It was by chance that some miscommunication led to Ambos coming up on the fly and then running a baseball camp.

“No one had alerted field officials that there was a youth camp scheduled, so there was nobody there,” Ambos explained. “Now there were about 150 kids waiting to receive baseball instruction. So in a panic the GM came to me and said what do I do? So I kind of just looked at things and then intuitively I start splitting them into groups, got rotations going and I was able to wrangle in some more players to help.”

Ambos was able to turn a mob scene into a structured camp in a matter of moments and that skill did not go unnoticed.

“One of the parents afterwards came over and asked me what my aspirations were after my baseball career,” Ambos said. “I joked that I hope it never ends, but he told me he was chairman of a private school in the area and they were looking for an athletic director.”

That’s how Ambos’ career in education began and now that that career has led him here to Fountain Hills, Ambos is making sure to do his homework before the start of the year.

“Right now I am taking a deep look into how things go and looking to see what I can do to assist in things moving forward,” Ambos said.

Ambos does know what his top priority will be and that is the students of FHCS.

“The basic premise is that it is kids first; that is our number one priority,” Ambos said. “What that looks like, at this point, is still morphing. [We’re] making sure that the child’s whole needs are being addressed academically, socioemotionally and behaviorally.”

The Fountain Hills Charter School will have a Meet Your Teacher event on Monday, Aug. 5. Teachers will reach out to parents to set up a meeting time.