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Dean at A. Quinn Jones School named to UF college’s Alumni Hall of Fame

Press release from Alachua County Public Schools

Robin Ramirez considers himself a ‘jock’ from way back, but he says he’s thrilled with a non-athletic honor he just received from his alma mater. 

Ramirez, a dean at the A. Quinn Jones School, is one of seven alumni from the University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance (UFHHP) inducted into the college’s Alumni Hall of Fame during a recent awards ceremony. 

“Having an award of this level is more prestigious and more meaningful to me than any award I’ve won to date,” said Ramirez.

Ramirez is a 1981 graduate of the school, and during his time there he was also an all-American swimmer for the University of Florida. Swimming has continued to be a huge part of his life, and he has a passion for teaching others to swim. He’s been an instructor with several organizations, including the YMCA of North Centrla Florida and Swim America. For the past 34 years he’s also been the boys and girls swimming and diving coach at Gainesville High School. He’s led them to enormous success, including a top ten finish in 2020, the 25th year one of his teams has done so well.

But for nearly four decades, he’s been an educator with Alachua County Public Schools, all of them at A. Quinn Jones, an alternative school for students with emotional disabilities and other challenges. During his first 15 years at the school, Ramirez implemented a physical education program that included elements adapted to students with disabilities. 

For the past 23 years he’s served as a dean at the school, working to reduce suspensions and referrals and boosting attendance and achievement. He’s also implemented a restorative justice program at the school that focuses on building positive relationships and allowing students to ‘repair’ any harm they may have done rather than simply issuing penalties.

Ramirez says he’s proud of the work he and his colleagues at A. Quinn Jones do to support students at the school. He also says he wants the students to learn the same lessons he learned from his parents.

“There are no boundaries to success,” he said. “It’s all about our willingness to do what we need to do to achieve that success.”

More information about the recognition is available at http://hhp.ufl.edu/springawards/

  • Yay, Coach Rob!!! This is one wonderful man! So glad to see him get some well deserved recognition! I know him as a swim coach, and he was an amazing swimmer himself.

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