INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) Board of School Commissioners has named Aleesia Johnson as its next superintendent. Johnson has been serving in the role since January and is the first African-American woman to lead the district.
In the last six months, under Johnson’s leadership as interim superintendent, IPS has created the Family and Community Engagement Team to better listen to and learn from families and the broader community to cultivate student success. IPS has received a total of nearly $1 million in grants from JPMorgan Chase & Company to enhance work-based learning for high school students, and from Salesforce to lead professional development for school and district leaders along with specialized training and support for new teachers. Johnson has overseen pay raises for all district employees, including some who hadn’t received an increase in 10 years. She’s also spearheaded the creation of a strategic plan to guide the district through the 2019-20 school year.
As an educator for more than 16 years, Johnson has worked in a number of roles throughout Indianapolis, including four years with IPS where she most recently served as deputy superintendent for academics. Before her time at IPS, Johnson served as a teacher and principal at KIPP Indy College Prep Middle School. Johnson is also a member of Chiefs for Change’ s current Future Chiefs Cohort.
A native of Evansville, Indiana, Aleesia comes from a long line of educators including her mother, who’s an elementary school principal; and her grandfather, Anthony Brooks, one of the few African-American administrators in the Evansville area in the 1970s and 1980s. Johnson is married and has an adult stepdaughter and three school-aged children who attend an IPS school.
