Kenneth "Ken" Nicely

About Ken:

Prior to serving as superintendent, Dr. Nicely held district leadership positions as Assistant Superintendent, Director of Administration, and Director of Secondary Instruction within Roanoke County Public Schools, a 2020 Virginia School District of Innovation. Dr. Nicely was the 2019 recipient of the Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (VASCD) Leadership Award.

During his tenure as principal, Hidden Valley Middle School in Roanoke County was recognized by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform as one of Virginia’s Schools to Watch, the first school in western Virginia to receive this honor. Previously, Dr. Nicely’s career spanned over 10 years as a Spanish teacher, during which time he awarded the Excellence in K-12 Foreign Language Teaching award by the Foreign Language Association of Virginia.

 Dr. Nicely earned his doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Virginia Tech and was the 2013 recipient of the Ted Sizer National Dissertation Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals. He earned a masters degree from the University of Virginia and his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary. Dr. Nicely is Past President of the Virginia Middle School Association and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the international Association for Middle Level Education. He is proud to serve on the Executive Board for Virginia School Consortium for Learning. He and his wife Teresa were the founding teachers and director for Nicaragua Christian Academy in Central America and are the proud parents of three adult children.