Now working in an administrative position, Lauren Freedman is one of two Assistant Principals at PHS with Rashone Johnson. A former math teacher at PHS since 2008, Freedman joined the PHS administrative team in September, replacing now-principal Cecilia Birge as one of the Assistant Principals.

This past summer, before taking the new position, Freedman had just completed her Master’s degree in educational leadership online through the University of Texas Permian Basin when the position of assistant principal opened up. Realizing that she could work with even more students than as a math teacher, Freedman was eager to take the position.

“Over the years, I have served on many, many different committees. I’ve taken on various leadership roles, both in the school and in the surrounding community. For a long time, I was working with about 120 students across my classes, but I realized that in a role like this, I could work with close to 1600 students. So I knew that this would be an opportunity for me to sort of work with the larger community,” Freedman said.

Freedman believes that her style of teaching was never “traditional” for a high school setting. A self-described quirky and creative person, Freedman often sought to include fun elements in the classes that she taught.

“I like to think of myself as someone who thinks outside of the box. … I [liked] to teach using songs and games and doing things that aren’t so traditional and I think it’s really fun to teach math.” said Freedman. “It’s fun to help students to be creative and help students see math in a different way.”

Grace Waldman ’25, a former student of Freedman’s when she taught Geometry I and Pre-Calculus recalls strategies Freedman would create to help maximize the engagement in her students.

“She was a very chill, fun teacher to be around. She would have these things called Freedman Franks or something, it was like her form of currency, and if you did well on an assignment or you were paying attention and raised your hand in class she would give you one, and at the end of each quarter right before break you would have a little party where you got to trade in stuff, so it was pretty fun,” Waldman said.

Growing up in Princeton, Freedman is grateful for being able to meet so many people of different backgrounds. Later attending PMS and PHS, she was inspired by many of the teachers she grew up with, including Mr. Johnson whom she now works with as Assistant Principal.

“Being part of this community is really special. It’s a special place because there is such a diverse group of people from all around the world and you can learn so much from so many people,” said Freedman. “I had a great education. In middle school, I have memories of being in my math class and having a really strict teacher at the time and that’s actually when I decided I wanted to be a math teacher, because it was a hard class and I felt like it was the one class that I was really successful in.”

After graduating from PHS in 2004, while majoring in math education her senior year at Villanova University, Freedman was hired as a math teacher at PHS, enabling her to move back to her hometown.

“What brought me back to PHS was my love for the town and my love for the community. My roots are here. I’m really close with my family and they all live [in Princeton]. I met my husband in high school [and] both of us have parents who live here, my sister lives here, his sisters live here. We’re family people,” said Freedman.

With Freedman stepping into the new role, Supervisor of Math and Business Education Tiffany Brennan, who worked with Freedman on organizing Saturday Academies over the summer, praised her colleague’s attentiveness and curiosity.

“She’s a really good listener, and so she likes to consider more than one person’s point of view. … She’s [also] willing to ask questions, and that’s important for a leader to admit when they don’t know some things because she is new in her role,” Brennan said.

While Freedman’s former students will not see her on a daily basis for classes anymore, many of them, including Waldman, see her continuing her dedication to PHS students in carrying out her new role as assistant principal.

“I’m very happy for her and I think she’ll do a great job. I don’t really see her very often anymore … but she’s doing a great job as [assistant] principal, so she deserves it,” said Waldman.