Ms. Elizabeth Kirby began working in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District on August 1, 2019.
Most recently, Ms. Kirby served as Chief of School Strategy and Planning for Chicago Public Schools from 2015 to 2019. She spent a total of 23 years in Chicago Public Schools as a teacher, principal, and central office administrator.
She started first as a history teacher at Olive-Harvey Middle College High School before transitioning to administrative roles as assistant principal and then head principal at Kenwood Academy from 2003-2012.
Ms. Kirby was elevated to Network Chief in 2012, overseeing the implementation of school improvement plans to drive student achievement in networks that serve 18,000 students. Later, as Chief of School Strategy and Planning, Ms. Kirby provided strategic guidance to 656 district, charter, and contract schools and also oversaw the district’s 18 Network Chiefs, or regional superintendents, to support principals in building and sustaining strong schools.
Ms. Kirby is a native Clevelander who grew up in the Shaker-Buckeye neighborhood and graduated from Hawken School. Ms. Kirby attended Harvard University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a special concentration in urban studies. She went on to earn a Master of Arts in Social Science from the University of Chicago.