DALLAS—December 15, 2011—Kenneth Salim, Senior Director of the Chief Academic Office at Boston Public Schools, began his term as president of Learning Forward at the conclusion of the association’s annual conference in Anaheim, Calif. on December 7, 2011.
Salim succeeds Mark Diaz, superintendent and director of Cedars International Academy in Austin, Texas, who joined the Learning Forward Board in 2009. Diaz will serve one more year as past president.
Salim joined Learning Forward’s Board of Trustees in 2010. As the senior director of the Chief Academic Office at Boston Public Schools, Salim leads and implements district-wide academic initiatives. His areas of expertise include instructional leadership, district reform, professional development, and college readiness. Previously, Salim served as a classroom teacher, Boston Public Schools’ director of New Teacher Support, and a Boston College faculty member. The first member of his family to graduate from college, Salim earned a BA at Brown University and received his doctorate from Harvard University’s Urban Superintendents Program in May 2011.
Jeff Ronneberg is Learning Forward’s new president-elect. Ronneberg is superintendent of Spring Lake Park Schools in Minneapolis, Minn. He is also past president of Learning Forward Minnesota (formerly Minnesota Staff Development Council).
Leaving the board this year are Sue Elliott of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Ingrid Carney of Chicago. Carney also served a term as president in 2010. Newly elected board members Clara Howitt and Myra Whitney begin three-year terms to fill the seats created by the departure of Elliott and Carney.
Howitt is superintendent of K-12 curriculum, professional learning, and leadership development for the Greater Essex County District School Board, Windsor, Ontario. Whitney is associate superintendent and executive director of professional development and staff inservice for Memphis (Tenn.) City Schools.
