The Farmington Board of Education and Kathleen C. Greider, Superintendent of Schools, are proud to announce the 2025 Teacher of the Year for the Farmington Public Schools (FPS). Timothy Barron, Computer Science teacher at Farmington High School (FHS), has been named Farmington’s Teacher of the Year for the 2024-2025 school year.
Tim Barron is an exemplary computer science, robotics, and STEM educator and leader at FHS dedicated to expanding pathways to promote a skilled science and technology workforce in Connecticut and beyond. His influence is vast as he, along with his students, promote access to computer science, robotics and STEM for all Farmington students beginning at a young age through outreach and programming. As a result of Tim Barron’s leadership, FHS has been proud to have the most students honored in Connecticut for the 11th time by NCWIT through the Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) recognition. Although this is just one example of the many awards and accolades that Tim Barron and his students have received over many years, it is a reflection of his deep belief in ALL students and his commitment to fully preparing them to make a positive and lasting impact on their local and world communities now and in the future.
Early in his career, Tim understood the power of providing student-led, project-based learning experiences that connect to the real world and lead to deeper learning for all learners. He spreads his knowledge and expertise to others as a culture builder, collaborator and genuinely caring educator. For example, under Tim Barron’s leadership, FHS established a new computer science learning pathway. This pathway will include a new cybersecurity course to be piloted next school year.
As a warm demander, he readily connects with his students and sets high expectations while supporting students to reach impressive levels of personal and academic excellence in all of their endeavors. He is an educator who students remember and deeply respect far beyond their years in Farmington.
Superintendent Greider states, “Mr. Barron’s unwavering dedication to the field of computer science has impacted the lives of countless students and positioned FHS as a leading high school in the field of STEM. He generously dedicates his time beyond the school day and on weekends to the robotics program and his collaborative work has resulted in countless state and national awards and achievements at the individual, team and school levels. Mr. Barron is a humble and selfless educator. He is quick to give praise and credit to others and models the attributes of a true Farmington educator-one who puts students first, is a learner and relationship builder at his core and places teamwork and innovative improvement at the forefront of his daily work in partnership with students and colleagues. I am so pleased and proud to celebrate Tim Barron, our 2025 Teacher of the Year, who is most deserving of this recognition.”
Board of Education Chair, Bill Beckert, commented, “On behalf of the Board of Education, we celebrate Timothy Barron as our 2025 Teacher of the Year. Over the past 15 years that I have served on the Board of Education, Mr. Barron has exhibited an unparalleled commitment to the students, families and the entire FHS community. He lifts others up with his mentorship and commitment to excellence in all aspects of his work as a teacher, mentor and advisor. What makes FHS a special place for students to thrive are educators, like Tim, who give so much of their talents, time and relentless pursuit of improvement and innovation to their students and fellow colleagues. As we open a new state of the art high school, I can’t think of a more deserving educator to be recognized at such a historic moment in our school district’s history.”
Farmington High School Principal, Russ Crist shared, “FHS could not be more proud of the nomination of Mr. Tim Barron as the 2025 Teacher of the Year. Mr. Barron is a student-centered educator who goes above and beyond for his students, both in and out of the classroom. He makes the most challenging courses accessible to all students and has been a leading advocate for females in STEM. Mr. Barron embodies all of the values of Farmington Public Schools and serves as a humble educator, mentor and leader across our district.”
Upon being selected Teacher of the Year Timothy Barron commented, “I am honored to be selected as Farmington’s 2025 Teacher of the Year. Over the past 26 years, I have been inspired and supported by incredibly dedicated and talented colleagues who continue to uplift me today. Early in my career, self-doubt was a challenge, but Farmington Public Schools provided me with the opportunity to find my footing in education in my own way. I started by assisting teachers with technology and mentoring students, and then I moved into the classroom. Although I was a singleton teacher of Computer Science at Farmington High School for several years, I always felt like a valued and connected member of the outstanding group of educators known as the FHS Science Department. I am proud to have led the significant growth in our Computer Science offerings at FHS. However, this has only happened through the support and advocacy of my fellow teachers and our department leaders, administrators, counselors, parents, and students. Farmington Public Schools is a caring place where students can discover what they love to do in life while being encouraged to become the best versions of themselves. I can say for sure that this holds true for myself and all our faculty and staff members as well. We help each other be life-long learners. I share this honor with all my fellow Farmington educators and will do my best to represent what I consider to be an entire school system of teachers of the year.”
Brief Bio:
Timothy Barron received a BS in Physics and a Masters in Educational Computing from the University of Hartford. He joined Farmington High School as their Technology Applications Specialist in 1998. He transitioned to a classroom teacher in 2002, teaching Multimedia, Web Design, and the only three sections of Computer Science offered. Tim is proud to say that in the 2024-2025 school year, there will be nine sections of Computer Science courses that four other FHS teachers will teach besides himself. He has participated in significant professional learning to reach more girls and underserved students for CS and STEM classes – the most impactful were the Tapestry workshop at UVA and CS4HS at Carnegie Mellon. He has actively encouraged Farmington students to pursue their interests in computing and STEM by connecting with The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) community for the past twelve years, and he was awarded their Connecticut Aspirations in Computing Educator Award in 2017. Mr. Barron was also a founding Connecticut Computer Science Teachers Association member and the Chapter Treasurer from 2006 to 2013. He continues to be an active member today. In 2013, Tim Barron was recognized with the prestigious Woodie Flowers Finalist Award at the UTC Connecticut FIRST Regional competition. This award is presented to an outstanding FIRST Robotics mentor/coach who best inspires, motivates, and empowers their team using excellent communication skills. It is based on a student-led effort to celebrate their mentor in their own words with a nomination essay.
Mr. Barron has mentored the award-winning Farmington High School FIRST Robotics team, The Second Law Enforcers, for 26 years. He has been the co-head coach together with FHS Math Teacher Michele Hall since 2004. His collaboration in guiding the team each year with Michele, engineering coach Charles Fortbauer, assistant coaches Samantha Salvador and Earl Procko, and many, many dedicated mentors and alums over the years has been a highlight of his time in Farmington. It brings him back excited for more each year.
Tim lives in Windsor, Connecticut with his partner Cyndi, without whose support and understanding nature he would not be receiving this recognition. In the summer, Tim enjoys spending time with their friends and family, rooting for the Red Sox, driving his EV 6, and chilling out with their two cats, Mr. Snuggles and Mr. Mischief.
