Kelvin Adams, Ph.D.
Superintendent, St. Louis Public Schools
 Dr. Adams has held several roles since 1978, including teacher, middle school and high school principal, executive director, area superintendent and associate dean.
Most recently, he was the Chief of Staff for the Recovery School District (RSD) in New Orleans, LA, a position he held since 2007. As Chief of Staff, Dr. Adams was the executive coordinator of day-to- day operations for the school district, with 12,500 students in 33 schools with over 2,000 employees and an annual operating and capital budget of $300 million. He worked directly for the superintendent to develop and implement the district’s educational and operational vision and strategies for improving student achievement. He acted on behalf of the superintendent during his absence and provided direct executive oversight to several departments, including: Finance, Legal, Academics, Human Resources, Facilities, Student Management, Accountability and Communication.
While in New Orleans, he successfully opened 33 RSD-direct-operated schools and 26 charter schools. Dr. Adams developed a long-term strategic plan, which serves as a blueprint for building a superior school system for New Orleans. He created and managed an instructional model for all grades and distributed first quarter 2009 curriculum for all subjects to teachers. Dr. Adams developed and implemented a comprehensive classroom modernization initiative. With the completion of the development of the high school redesign and with a new managed instructional program, graduation rates jumped from 39% to 67% in one year. Dr. Adams also assisted in implementing the JPAMS Student Information System and is helping to rebuild the IEP system by completing over 1,700 IEP’s during Academic Year 2007-2008. He also assisted in developing a network of transition and alternative schools, as well as infusing curriculum with Response to Intervention strategies for the 2008-2009 school year.
From 2006-2007, Dr. Adams was the Executive Director of Human Resources for St. Louis Public Schools. He was responsible for the recruitment, selection and retention of all district employees. He was originally recruited to serve as the Middle School Executive Director, but was promoted to supervise all human resource functions shortly after his arrival. He identified critical need areas based on district goals and objectives and state guidelines and implemented recruitment strategies to improve workforce development. He provided consultative and coaching assistance to principals, supervisors and other clients on personnel and employee relations concerns. He developed a Web-based employment application process and implemented a uniform district-wide selection and interview process and procedure.
From 2005-2006, Dr. Adams was the Associate Dean/Interim Dean and Charter School Liaison for the College of Education for Southern University of New Orleans. He provided executive leadership in developing an academic vision and plan for the college and its programs and ensured continuing attention to that vision and plan, while serving as the Chief Planning Officer for the college, he provided academic and educational leadership for its administrators, faculty, staff and students. He also ensured that the College of Education was in compliance with state standards for approved programs and withnational accreditation standards. He assisted in the relocation of the College of Education from New Orleans to Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina, and supported the transition of staff and faculty back to New Orleans during post-Katrina recovery operations.
From 2003-2005, Dr. Adams was the Principal of the Marion Abramson Senior High inthe New Orleans Public Schools – the largest public senior high school in the city, with 1,600 students, 120 employees and a budget in excess of $4.0 million. He met and exceeded the state school performance growth target and achieved the label of “Recognized Academic Growth.” He increased student attendance from 82.6% to 87.1% and implemented the “small learning communities” and “professional learning communities” concepts.
From 2000-2003, Dr. Adams was the Executive Director of Middle Schools, where he had responsibilities for 33 middle schools, 14,000 students, 2,000 staff members and a budget of $60 million. In addition to supervising and evaluating principals and programs, he re-designed failing schools into “learning academies,” and developed middle school conferences for teachers and administrators, a “World of Work Academy” and a middle school athletics program. From 1993-2000, Dr. Adams was the Principal of the Fannie C. Williams Middle School.
Dr. Adams received a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership in Administration from the University of New Orleans in 2005, a M.A. in Elementary Education from Xavier University in 1991 and a B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education from Northeast Louisiana University in 1978.
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