Dr. Dōnnie R. Johnson

K–12 District Executive LeaderCertified for the Superintendency in New Jersey

Thirty years of building schools where every student, including every student with a disability, is taught well and counted. Special educator, turnaround principal, and district director of special services, now ready to lead a district.

Read the Leadership Profile Read her biography

Portrait of Dr. Dōnnie R. Johnson in a black suit with white lapels and a pearl necklace — Ed.D., Seton Hall University

A record a board can verify

Results across elementary, high school, alternative, and district settings in Baltimore, Trenton, Newark, and Plainfield.

37 of 38 state indicators exceededTurnaround principal of a 480-student Trenton elementary school, leading a staff of 70 to 85, while cutting chronic absenteeism by 40% in one year.
100% state compliance restoredDistrict special education department brought back into full compliance while overseeing Special Education, 504, and multilingual learner programs.
$209K in cuts absorbedManaged a $380K operating budget through reductions without cutting instruction or student services.
Six-figure NJDOE grant securedFunding for district-wide professional development and inclusive instruction.
75% more family participationStructured engagement work that brought parents back into the school.
Top-ten gains in reading and mathOne of ten Baltimore City principals honored for top-ten one-year Stanford 10 gains at Dr. Lillie M. Jackson Elementary Alternative School (2006), featured on WMAR-2 News.
Blue Ribbon second roundOne of 15 selected from 500 applicants for the Johns Hopkins University–Baltimore City Public Schools Principal Induction Institute; on the leadership team as Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School advanced to the second round of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program (2004).
Certified in four statesSuperintendent certification in New Jersey and Maryland; principal certification in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.