By Mary Beth Roach
Jennifer King-Reese has been a part of the Syracuse City School District for decades and coming up through the district both as a student and employee has given her an outlook that appears to be guiding her in her current position.
She is a graduate of Nottingham High School and had been principal at Porter Elementary, Montessori at LeMoyne and Corcoran High School. She earned her undergraduate degree from LeMoyne, her master’s at SUNY Oswego and her certificate of advanced study from Syracuse University.
“I’ve experienced the district from multiple perspectives — as a student, educator, building leader and now senior district leader. SCSD helped shape who I am personally and professionally,” she said.
As executive chief of administration and strategic planning, King-Reese described her job responsibilities as leading and coordinating districtwide systems to ensure the school district operates strategically, efficiently and in alignment with student achievement goals. Moreover, she is in charge of implementing and monitoring the school district’s strategic plan and priorities; ensuring that there is alignment across the district as it relates to departments, schools, procedures and operations; and using data, reporting and performance monitoring to drive decision-making and accountability.
When one considers that the Syracuse City School is the largest one in Onondaga County, with approximately 19,500 students, more than 4,500 employees and 31 schools and four alternative education programs, King-Reese work has a tremendous impact.
“I don’t take this leadership role lightly and it gives me a strong sense of responsibility to help move the work forward and create opportunities for students,” she said.
But with that, also comes with challenges.
She explained that one of the greatest challenges has been ensuring there is coherence across the district — departments, schools, initiatives and operational systems — and in a large urban environment, with competing priorities, fragmentation can result.
While she said she’s only been in the role for a short period of time, she cited a few accomplishments aimed at fostering greater communication among the district’s schools and employees.
She has been involved in launching the senior leadership “staff crew,” to focus, she said, “on relationship-building, communication and collective leadership capacity to strengthen team effectiveness,” and cutting down on “operational silos” as a means for building stronger cross-departmental collaboration and alignment across the district.
Her work also fuels her goals for the future.
“I would like to continue growing as a leader and continue work that improves how schools and organizations operate,” she said.
As the school district has impacted her life’s experiences, she knows the potential that her work can have on future generations.
“I saw early on how much schools can shape opportunity, stability and long-term outcomes for children and families. I truly believe schools can be transformational spaces, particularly for students in urban communities,” she explained.
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