Featured Alumni

LAVONNE M. SHEFFIELD

The Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2002
Superintendent
Rockford Public Schools, Ill.

“I have but one passion—to be part of the revolution that must occur in order to transform public education in the United States. This revolution must not only overhaul how schools operate and how our children are educated, but also ensure educational access, equality and opportunity for all children.”

In April 2009, LaVonne Sheffield was appointed superintendent of Rockford Public Schools.  She will start in July 2009.

In June 2008, LaVonne Sheffield became the superintendent of the Recovery School Dsitrict, East Baton Rogue.  In this role, she oversees schools in East Baton Rogue that are part of the special state school district administered by the Louisiana Department of Education.  Prior to joining the Recovery School District, Sheffield served as chief accountability officer for The School District of Philadelphia, the ninth largest district in the nation, with more than 192,000 students and 262 schools. Sheffield has also served as the chief academic officer and chief of staff for Detroit Public Schools, where her responsibilities included management of a million operating budget and oversight of the offices of community communications, student information services, continuous improvement, institutional development, general counsel, community responsibility and internal audit. Prior to entering the field of education, Sheffield spent several years in high-level governmental positions in Cleveland. For nearly a decade, she served as chief of staff to Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White, where she managed the city’s Y2K conversion and the reorganization of Cleveland Public Power, a publicly owned electricity company. She began her education career as a teacher in Detroit Public Schools. Sheffield has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in education from Wayne State University in Michigan and a doctorate in education from the University of Michigan.