ROANOKE – After eight years as superintendent of Roanoke County Public Schools (RCPS), Dr. Ken Nicely has announced he will retire at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, culminating a 35-year career in education and 33 total years with RCPS.
The Roanoke County School Board will begin the process of searching for a replacement superintendent in the coming weeks.
“I am grateful for the opportunities I have had with Roanoke County Public Schools and could not be prouder of the incredible team we have developed,” said Dr. Nicely. “Together we have accomplished much, but it is the joy of working with students and seeing the difference our staff makes for children every day that I treasure most.”
Dr. Nicely first joined Roanoke County Public Schools in 1993 as a Spanish teacher at Cave Spring High School and earned the 2001 Virginia Foreign Language Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2002, he was named an assistant principal at Hidden Valley Middle School and became principal at HVMS in 2006, leading the school to become the first Virginia middle school west of Richmond to be recognized by the national Schools to Watch program. Dr. Nicely was promoted to district leadership in 2012 as the director of secondary instruction & technology and became the director of administration in 2016. In Spring 2018, Dr. Nicely was named the assistant superintendent of administration. In early August 2018, the Roanoke County School Board named Dr. Nicely as the 16th superintendent for Roanoke County Public Schools dating back to 1870. Prior to returning to the Roanoke Valley in 1993, Dr. Nicely and his wife lived and worked in Central America in Managua, Nicaragua, serving as the founding teachers and director of an international school that still thrives today.
During his time as a school division leader, beginning with his time as the director of secondary instruction, Dr. Nicely led the development of the C Change Framework which now serves as the comprehensive vision for Roanoke County Public Schools. At the heart of the C-Change Framework is “deeper learning”, simply defined as learning that is engaging and purposeful, and articulates the division’s commitment to developing the knowledge and transfer skills students need for success. It also recognizes that deeper learning does not happen in a vacuum; in order to thrive academically, students need to feel safe and be supported by caring teachers and adults.
Under Dr. Nicely’s leadership as superintendent, he led the transformation of the division’s educational philosophy to emphasize the C-Change Framework with the ultimate goal of preparing students to become “Opportunity Ready.” By the time they graduate from high school, students are ready, through knowledge, skills, and habits of mind to take advantage of multiple opportunities and pathways to success.
Dr. Nicely is known for his determination that the vision of the C-Change Framework must be more than an ideal; it must transform students’ school and classroom experiences in real and tangible ways. This resulted in the two key cornerstones of the Opportunity Ready Graduate program: student-led conferences and senior portfolio defenses. In 2025, more than 300 Roanoke County seniors earned the first-ever Opportunity Ready Graduate diploma seal and honor cord, and all elementary and middle school students participated in student-led conferences, showcasing their learning and skills.
Dr. Nicely’s success with instructional leadership has garnered significant state and national recognition. The C-Change Framework was awarded with one of the first Innovative Practice Exemplar Awards from the Virginia Board of Education. The Opportunity Ready certificate program was a key factor in Roanoke County Public School’s inclusion in the 2025 Carnegie Foundation’s Future of High Schools Network – a group of 24 school divisions nationwide working to develop the next evolution in high school education.
During Dr. Nicely’s tenure as superintendent, Roanoke County Public Schools has kept the safety and wellbeing of students as a top priority. Licensed mental health LIFE counselors were added to the five high schools, and a program to set and teach common expectations for student behavior and respect was implemented. A new alternative education program for middle and high school students (A-STEP) has provided students a pathway to stay in school and earn a diploma. School nurses were restored to full-time status, and school resource officers were added to every school, through a supportive partnership with both the police and sheriff’s office.
Dr. Nicely has championed the teachers and staff of Roanoke County, acknowledging that they are key to the success of the school division. Competitive salaries and benefits have been a priority, and a first-in-Virginia PTO benefit was introduced for staff in 2024. RCPS was recognized, among Virginia school divisions, by the UVA K-12 Advisory Council for its successful efforts to hire and retain teachers. Dr. Nicely started the annual faculty convocation in 2019 as a means of celebrating teachers and building a culture of teamwork across the division’s 27 schools.
Among the most visible hallmarks of Dr. Nicely’s superintendency has been a long list of capital projects to modernize school facilities, including the complete renovation of Cave Spring High School and William Byrd High School. His leadership of a comprehensive study of Roanoke County facilities lay the groundwork for the largest capital project in Roanoke County history, with the construction of a new state-of-the-art CTE school and the complete renovations of W.E. Cundiff and Glen Cove elementary Schools.
Dr. Nicely has served on the local boards for Virginia Western Community College and United Way of Roanoke Valley, as well as the Cohen Career Center at William & Mary. He has taught as adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, Radford University, and Hollins University. He has served as president of Virginia Middle School Association, chairman of the Virginia School Consortium for Learning, trustee for the international Association for Middle Level Education, and a member of the State Superintendents Leadership Council.
He is the recipient of the 2019 Virginia ASCD Leadership Award, the 2012 Ted Sizer Dissertation Award from National Association of Secondary School Principals, and 2001 Virginia Excellence in K-12 Teaching Award from the Foreign Language Association of Virginia. In 2025, Dr. Nicely was named the Virginia Region VI Superintendent of the Year.
‘We can’t begin to express our thanks and appreciation to Dr. Nicely for all his work and numerous accomplishments,” said Shelley Clemons, chair of the Roanoke County School Board.
“Roanoke County Public Schools is among the top school divisions in the state and the nation. Much of that success is directly due to Dr. Nicely’s vision and his leadership. He led the school division through some challenging times, especially during the pandemic, and through his leadership, Roanoke County students continue to excel. We wish him and his family all the best in his retirement,” Clemons said.
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