Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises has been selected to serve as the second superintendent-in-residence at The Broad Center at Yale School of Management, beginning in the 2025–26 academic year.
Dr. Santelises will continue to lead City Schools as CEO while serving concurrently in this new national role. The Broad Center role is part-time and flexible.
The Broad Center at Yale SOM supports leaders of urban public school systems through two tuition-free programs: the Master’s in Public Education Management degree program and the Fellowship for Public Education Leadership. Both programs focus on strengthening skills for system-level transformation while fostering a network of committed education leaders. As superintendent in residence, Dr. Santelises will lead content facilitation for the current Fellowship for Public Education Leadership program cohort, teach in and support the Master’s in Public Education Management degree program, and mentor members of The Broad Center alumni network, especially those preparing for district leadership roles.
“Sonja has worked tirelessly to craft meaningful curricula, make her district’s facilities more sustainable, modernize vocational training, and respond to the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID pandemic,” said Yale SOM Dean Kerwin K. Charles in the organization’s announcement. “I am delighted that The Broad Center’s community of committed education leaders will be able to learn from her years of experience and benefit from her guidance.”
Dr. Santelises will succeed Dr. William Hite, who served as The Broad Center’s inaugural superintendent in residence for four years.
Since becoming CEO in 2016, Dr. Santelises has led Baltimore City Public Schools through a period of significant transformation. Before her current role, Dr. Santelises held other leadership positions in Baltimore, worked at The Education Trust, and served as an assistant superintendent in Boston Public Schools, where she led a network of schools focused on accelerating achievement for low-income students.