Dr. Donna Ottaviano

Superintendent of Schools

North Providence, Rhode Island

 

Dr. Donna Ottaviano has worked in public education for over twenty-five years. She has been employed as a teacher, as a public health educator (for the state Health Dept), as an elementary school principal, Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent of Schools all in Rhode Island. She has served in her current capacity of Superintendent of Schools in North Providence, Rhode Island, since 2004. Her areas of expertise have focused on curriculum and instruction, and professional development.

As an executive board representative of the Rhode Island School Superintendents Association, Dr. Ottaviano has served on the Rhode Island Governors Steering Committee for School Safety since its creation in 2006. In the area of school safety, she has organized numerous presentations throughout the state of Rhode Island for public, private, and parochial schools, as well as, police and fire. Within her own district, she was instrumental in the creation and implementation of a School Safety Plan and the training of all school personnel on Response to Active Shooters and Bomb Threats. She has worked with local police, fire and the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency to conduct active shooter drills in local schools.

Dr. Ottaviano has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and History, a Masters Degree in Educational Administration, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. She holds Rhode Island certifications in Elementary Education, Middle School Social Studies, as an Elementary and Middle School Principal, in Curriculum Instruction and Design, and as an Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent of Schools. In 1999, her dissertation entitled “The Relationship Between Elementary Teacher Professional Development and Classroom Practices” was published through Johnson & Wales University.