SEED SCHOOL OF MARYLAND LEADERSHIP
Kirk Sykes
Head of School
Kirk A. Sykes is a transformational leader with over 25 years of experience in education, leadership, the administration of student services, professional development, and educational consulting. Kirk, is a Baltimore Sun, 2021 Readers Choice for Best in Education Leadership award winner. His experiences include classroom teacher, coordinator, assistant principal, and principal and now superintendent of Maryland’s only College Prep Public Boarding School. Kirk Sykes earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Morgan State University and his Master’s in Education from Coppin State University. He will complete his Doctoral Studies in Educational Leadership at Liberty University in the Spring of 2027.
Kirk was selected as the Superintendent/Head of School for the SEED School of MD in July 2020 after serving 4 years as Fulton County Schools Area Superintendent in Atlanta, Georgia where he oversaw 12 schools and over 15,000 students. His efforts as an Area Superintendent resulted in schools achieving dramatic gains in student achievement and all of the high school’s achieving their highest graduation rates on record.
Prior to his move to Atlanta, Kirk was Principal of Woodlawn High School for Pre-Engineering in Baltimore County, Kirk led Woodlawn in achieving a 91% graduation rate, the highest rate graduation rate in over a decade. Woodlawn has also experienced a celebrated transformation of the school’s culture and climate launching the county’s first Early College Program. Prior to Woodlawn, Kirk was the principal of Carver Vocational Technical High School located in Baltimore City. Under Kirk’s leadership, Carver Vocational Technical High School earned the AYP (adequate yearly progress) five years in a row, and won the Mayor’s Award for high School Attendance and the Robert’s Award for School Innovation. At the same time, Kirk increased the school’s enrollment and expanded its high-tech career pathways such as CISCO Networking, Manufacturing Technology, Auto CADD, and Graphic Communications. In 2012, he oversaw the completion of a 33-million-dollar renovation of the high school that included renovated academic classrooms as well as trade and technology labs. Carver became the first high school in Baltimore to establish a sister school relationship with a high school in China when it signed a partnership with Xiamen Technical High School in Xiamen, China. To secure this opportunity, Kirk led Carver to raise 300 hundred thousand dollars of private funds to successfully send two cohorts of students to Xiamen Technical High School in China for two weeks in 2011 and in 2013.
Kirk has been recognized nationally for his transformational leadership, dramatic gains in student achievement, and college and career readiness programs. In 2011, he was named Administrator of the Year by the College Bound Foundation and was named Principal of the Year by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship in 2012. Kirk has appeared on CNN’s Steve Perry Principles, discussing school reform, and school turnaround strategies, and recently collaborated on the Op-Ed Article Collaboration Not Conflict in the Baltimore Sun. He is a Teach Strong Ambassador and formerly sat on the board for New Leaders MD and The Principals Advisory Council.
Mr. Sykes has an unwavering commitment to the students and educators he leads and mentors. He has a history of working tirelessly with the parents, community, alumni, and partners. As a District Leader, he has a proven track record around producing graduates who will be future professionals, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and successful citizens who can compete globally and give back.
Kirk’s most proud of his success in family life where he has been married to the love of his life, Nonet Sykes for 20 years and they have two children, Kai (18) a freshman at Temple University majoring in Computer Science and Nia (20) at Sophomore majoring in Early Childhood Education. Kirk is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, loves to read, travel, play golf, and barbeque, and loves his Baltimore Ravens!