Dr. Monica Kelsey-Brown, Superintendent of Waunakee Public Schools: 360 Degrees of Experience (Part 1 of 2)
Dr. Monica Kelsey-Brown comes to the Waunakee district after having worked in teaching and administrative positions in Milwaukee and Brown Deer.
by Jonathan Gramling
With roots deep in education from Mississippi to Wisconsin, Dr. Monica Kelsey-Brown has seen education from just about any perspective possible, experiences —coupled with her education — that will help her lead the Waunakee Community School District as their superintendent.
Kelsey-Brown was born and raised in Milwaukee, but her family made sure she stayed close to her Mississippi heritage, steeped in hard work and education.
“Many of my summers were spent in Mississippi with my grandparents helping to work the farm in Byhalia, Mississippi,” Kelsey-Brown said. “It’s 30 minutes outside of Memphis. I come from a family of educators. My grandmother taught Head Start for 50 plus years in Mississippi. And my mom is 81 and she was in public education. My mom was actually my first and second grade teacher way back in the day. I often forget to say that, but she was just before licensing became a thing in the state of Wisconsin.”
Kelsey-Brown graduated from Milwaukee’s Bayview High School and was urged to attend Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi. But she chose to stay in-state at UW-Whitewater.
“I got a great education there,” Kelsey-Brown reflected. “I have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s in curriculum and instruction. I went all the way through and earned my doctorate from UW-Madison in 2001. My doctorate is in curriculum and instruction with a minor in ed policy. Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings was my doctoral advisor. She is still an advisor of mine. She is one of my GOATs, if you will, Greatest of All Time.”
When she received her master’s degree, Kelsey-Brown stayed on at UW-Whitewater to work in their pre-collegiate and student support programs for two years.
“I worked with our state pre-college programs and federal TRIO programs in the school districts of Racine, Kenosha, Beloit and Madison encouraging students to come to Whitewater to spend their summers,” Kelsey-Brown said. “They would spend a week there during the summer. I also directed Upward Bound educational talent search and the McNair Program, which prepared first-generation students to pursue doctoral degrees. I have students out there with medical degrees and Ph.D.s. That’s pretty exciting they are out there doing great work.”
Although her prospects were bright in higher education, Kelsey-Brown also felt the need to give back to her community. She gained employment in the Milwaukee Public Schools as a teacher.
“I taught second grade,” Kelsey-Brown said. “From there, I matriculated through becoming a building-level administrator and then went down to the district to do some work. I don’t know if you remember when the Obama Administration, Arne Duncan came through with the school improvement grant dollars, the SIG funds. I was the first coordinator of that in Milwaukee Public Schools. I worked writing those grants.”
After 14 years of service to MPS, Kelsey-Brown headed for Brown Deer, a northern suburb of Milwaukee.
“In 2015, I was recruited by Deb Kerr, the superintendent in Brown Deer at the time to come and serve as the director of teaching and learning,” Kelsey-Brown said. “Three years in, I was promoted to assistant superintendent and then promoted to superintendent on March 13, 2020.”
And then in 2023, another opportunity sought her out.
“A search firm reached out to me about the Waunakee position,” Kelsey-Brown said. “I did some research, dug deep and talked to a few people. I looked at their website and met people who had some experience with Waunakee either being an employee or their children had gone through the district. And I thought in relation to the mission, vision and equity statement that this was a place that I could provide leadership as the superintendent to continue to move this great district forward.
She started the position in December 2023.
All during her educational career, Kelsey-Brown also saw education for the perspective of a parent and family.
“My parents were together until third grade and then my mom raised us all alone beyond that, but also took care of my dad for 18 years,” Kelsey-Brown said. “I have a host of nieces and nephews whom I like to be involved with. All are school aged except one who is in college and two who have graduated from college. My daughter Alexandria Brown just graduated from law school in Madison. She went to a HBCU in Hampton, Virginia.”
For the past nine months, Kelsey-Brown has been deliberately getting to know the Waunakee district and the lives of the people it touches.
Waunakee is a growing community in a suburb north of Madison. Its housing is growing especially because the land is less expensive, which makes the housing more affordable. And people seeking residential opportunities in Waunakee are diverse.
“Waunakee is growing in its diversity,” Kelsey-Brown said. “A large Latino is growing. My understanding is that a larger population from Nicaragua. We are a destination district. I am sure the diversity will increase over time as more and more individuals learn about the high quality teaching and learning experience that you can get in addition to co-curriculars that you are afforded here in Waunakee.”
And Kelsey-Brown is excited to begin her first full school year.
“I’m happy to be here,” Kelsey-Brown exclaimed. “I’m excited about seeing the school year get off to a good start. The energy in the room Monday from the staff coming back was positive and it was well-received. I got a lot of good feedback. I look forward to what is yet to come for this school year. We have a new Heritage Elementary School. It’s beautiful. Being fully-staffed is exciting. I can’t wait to see the smiles. There will be some tears on the first day. Some kids won’t want to leave their parents. Sometimes it’s the parents who cry. It will be exciting to see everyone to come to our buildings on Tuesday to get the school year off to a great start.”
Next issue: A myriad of school issues