Longtime Madison-area education leader Carlettra Stanford has been named the new assistant superintendent of school leadership for the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD).
“With over 30 years of dedication to MMSD, Ms. Stanford has held a myriad of roles including principal, school-wide facilitator, literacy coach, and teacher,” MMSD said on its LinkedIn page announcing Stanford’s new position. “Most recently, she has served as associate superintendent of elementary schools for the past five years. Ms. Stanford is an MMSD alumna, graduating from Madison East High School.”
Prior to serving as associate superintendent of elementary schools, Stanford was the principal of Mendota Elementary School, one of MMSD’s first community schools, for 10 years. Stanford, who also served as principal for Gompers Elementary and Blackhawk Middle School in Madison, took her first teaching job as a fourth- and fifth-grade multi-age teacher at Glendale Elementary.
Stanford is a graduate of Madison East High School and Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in educational leadership.
Stanford is a longtime member of the Madison Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated where she has served as chapter president. An active community member, Stanford has served on numerous committees and boards, according to a press release from MMSD, and has made many contributions to the community, the field of education, and promotion of educational equity. Some of her awards and recognitions include the Luminaira Award for Leadership for Equity and Excellence, Lois Gadd Nemec Outstanding Alumnae Award, Milt McPike Education Award, nominee for MMSD Principal of the Year, and, most recently, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute Difference Maker Award for Outstanding Service in Education. She has also presented at various national educational conferences focused on literacy and educational equity.
