Kelley Castlin-Gacutan
Kelley Nicole Castlin-Gacutan, called Dr G, (born in Hueytown) is superintendent of Birmingham City Schools.
Castlin-Gacutan's parents both graduated from Birmingham schools and she grew up in Hueytown. She earned her bachelor of science in psychology at Tennessee State University, and was crowned "Miss Tennessee State University" in 1991. She went on to complete a master of education in early childhood education from Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia in 1995, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2005
Castlin-Gacutan began her career as a substitute teacher for Fulton County Schools in Atlanta in 1991, then spent a year in Kagoshima, Japan teaching English as an employee of the Japanese Ministry of Education. In 1993 she was hired as a teacher at Spalding Drive Elementary School in Atlanta. After six years she was appointed an assistant principal for Dunleith Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia and transferred to the same position at Lockheed Elementary School, in the same system, in 2000. That december, her husband, Rodney Castlin, a night manager at a motel in Cobb County, was murdered during a robbery. She became a single mother to her son, Kyle, now a student at Columbia University on a basketball scholarship, and to the daughter she was still carrying. She later remarried, to Pedro Gacutan, a retired U.S. Army information systems chief and employee of Fulton County Schools.
Castlin-Gacutan was promoted to principal of Marietta's Pine Forest Elementary School in 2004, then returned to the larger Lockheed Elementary is its principal in 2005. In 2008 she moved to Nogales, Arizona to work as director of grants for Nogales Unified School District No. 1, and filled in as interim assistant superintendent. She was appointed principal of Clarke Middle School in Athens, Georgia in 2009 and spent a year there before moving into system-wide administration with Clarke County Schools as an accountability and school improvement specialist. In 2011 she joined the faculty of Shorter University in Atlanta as an assistant professor of graduate education programs and director of the center for teacher preparation. In 2012 she was hired as deputy superintendent of school operations for the Bibb County School District in Macon, Georgia. She began serving as interim superintendent for the 24,000-student system in December 2014.
Castlin-Gacutan was hired to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Craig Witherspoon as head of Birmingham schools in May 2015. She began her tenure on July 1.
| Preceded by: Spencer Horn (interim) |
Superintendent of Birmingham City Schools July 1, 2015 |
Succeeded by: current |
Reports
- Kessler, Martin (February 11, 2015) "His father — and mother’s — son — the Kyle Castlin Story" One-Bid Wonders
- Underwood, Madison (May 12, 2015) "Hueytown native Kelley Castlin-Gacutan selected as new superintendent for Birmingham City Schools." The Birmingham News