Dr. Chad Gestson is the former superintendent of Phoenix Union High School District, a system with 28,000 students in grades 9-12 and 3,000 educators.

Under his leadership, the district had more A and B rated schools than ever before, and no D or F rated schools for the first time in history. Phoenix Union saw tremendous increases in graduation rates, scholarship totals, and college matriculation rates. The district also launched new schools, including a Gifted and Talented academy, a college preparatory academy in one of the city’s most underserved communities, and the Phoenix Coding Academy, among others.

Prior to being named superintendent, Gestson was Phoenix Union’s director of school leadership. In that role, he supervised principals and developed future principals and assistant principals through an Aspiring Leaders program that he created. He previously spent five years as the principal of Camelback High School, where he launched coding and engineering programs as well as the first and only Montessori high school program in Arizona.

Before joining Phoenix Union, Gestson was a middle school principal and elementary school assistant principal in the Isaac School District. An alumnus of Teach For America, he began his career in the Roosevelt School District in 2001.

Gestson, a member of the Chiefs for Change Board of Directors, earned his doctorate in educational leadership and M.Ed. in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University, where he was named the Outstanding Doctoral Student of the Year. He also holds an M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Washington. Gestson is a Broad Academy Fellow.