Dr. Darrin Slade, who has more than 30 years of experience as an educator, was named superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools in May 2023.

A native of Maryland, Slade began his career as an elementary school teacher and then assistant middle school principal with Baltimore City Public Schools for 11 years, from 1991 to 2002. He joined the District of Columbia Public Schools in 2002 and for the next 16 years was an elementary, middle school and high school principal at several schools, the last of which was H.D. Woodson High School.

Slade became known for his ability to turn around school performance throughout D.C. At Woodson, he led the school through significant gains including meeting all instructional reading and math goals for five years, reduced suspensions, increased attendance, and the most improved high school graduation rate in the D.C. metro area from 2013-2017. He also led strategic planning and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Slade moved to Kansas City, Mo., in 2018 to take a position as assistant superintendent of school leadership. In Kansas City, he was responsible for supervising principals, instructional programming, school climate, and strategic planning. During his tenure in Kansas City, he helped the district achieve full accreditation and led historic gains in student achievement, graduation rates, and attendance. In 2021, he became the deputy superintendent of the Hazelwood Public School District, a suburb of St. Louis. 

Slade earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Towson University in 1991, a master’s degree in teaching from Johns Hopkins University in 1994, a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2012; and an executive master’s degree in leadership from Georgetown University in 2013. He has also completed the Urban Superintendents Program at Howard University and the National Superintendents Academy in Long Beach, Calif.

“My duty in this life is to provide support to and bring compassion for the needs of students. That’s what drives me. I look at all students like they are my own.”

Email Dr. Darrin Slade