WARREN – Warren City Schools Superintendent/CEO Steve Chiaro received the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation’s 2024 Ohio Superintendent of the Year Award on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
The prestigious honor is the highest accolade the foundation bestows upon an educator. The foundation celebrated Mr. Chiaro and presented the award to him at a banquet during the annual Jennings Educators Summit in Warrensville, Ohio.
The recognition includes a $10,000 grant in Mr. Chiaro’s name from the foundation to the school district. Additionally, the foundation plans to visit the Warren City School District during the 2024-2025 school year and feature Mr. Chiaro on its website.
In May, Dr. Renee T. Willis, Ph. D., Executive Director of the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, explained in a letter announcing the award that honoring educators and elevating the teaching profession is a core mission of the foundation.
“We are deeply honored by your Board President’s high regard for you, leading to your nomination for this esteemed award. As you know, I am personally aware of your great work through the Ohio Mid-Sized Collaborative,” wrote Dr. Willis.
Warren City Schools Board of Education President Patricia Limperos nominated Mr. Chiaro for the award. In her nomination letter, she wrote that Mr. Chiaro “embraces and exemplifies your organization’s core values of Deep Learning and Excellent Teaching.” She lauded Mr. Chiaro’s unwavering support of the continued academic improvement of the school system.
She wrote further that Mr. Chiaro believes that the district’s youngest learners deserve a strong start to their academic journey; that every student deserves a chance to excel; that each student should be “met where they are;” that all students are worthy of the best educational opportunities and facilities; and most importantly, “that every student graduates from Warren City Schools prepared for their own individual successful future.”
The district’s works within the Whole Child Framework is grounded in Mr. Chiaro’s long standing commitment to collaborating with a breadth of community partners to ensure that the needs of students are met.
His strong leadership, vision, deep community partnerships and longstanding partnership with CASEL (Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning) – a national network of researchers, educators, and advocates purposed to make SEL part of a high-quality education for all, to meet students’ social emotional needs all supported Warren City School District’s recent removal from any negative state or federal designations.
Mr. Chiaro is in his 28th year of working for the Warren City School District. He has served as a teacher, principal, supervisor of school improvement and associate superintendent, and is in his 11th year as superintendent/CEO.
