A visionary educator, collaborative leader and acclaimed administrator, Dr. Kevin M. Maxwell is Chief Executive Officer of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS), a role that brings his career full circle.
Appointed by County Executive Rushern L. Baker III in 2013, Dr. Maxwell is serving the community where he has lived since childhood and where he began his career. He was reappointed in February 2017, the first PGCPS superintendent in more than 25 years to receive a second term.
As CEO, Dr. Maxwell has focused on arts integration, language immersion, environmental literacy and increasing student safety and supports. Under his leadership, PGCPS has significantly increased student enrollment and expanded access to full-day prekindergarten, dual enrollment programs, specialty offerings and opportunities in higher education and the workplace.
Dr. Maxwell began his career nearly 40 years ago as a teacher at Crossland High School, where he served for more than two decades, before moving to Buck Lodge Middle School and Northwestern High School. Throughout his career, Dr. Maxwell has focused on raising student achievement, increasing student participation in rigorous coursework and engaging state, county and local stakeholders.
Dr. Maxwell previously served as Superintendent for Anne Arundel County Public Schools from 2006 to 2013. In this role, he was responsible for the oversight of all aspects of operating, staffing and evaluating one of the 50 largest school districts nationwide. An avid arts advocate, he was honored in 2010 as Arts Education Advocate of the Year by the Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance (AEMS) for his efforts to enhance local arts education programs, which included opening the county’s first performing and visual arts magnet school.
Prior to joining Anne Arundel County, he served as a Community Superintendent and principal for Montgomery County Public Schools.
In 2014, Dr. Maxwell was named Maryland Superintendent of the Year by the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM) and represented Maryland in the National Superintendent of the Year program. He currently serves as secretary of PSSAM.
An active member of the community, his honors and recognitions include an appointment to the state’s Joint 21st Century Public Schools Facilities Commission; the 2014 PGCPS Visual Arts Teachers Art Leadership Award; the 2014 Howard University Outstanding Commitment and Service to Community Award; the 2016 Ethics Project’s Ambassador Andrew Young Award; and the 2016 Prince George’s Community College Foundation Partners for Success Award. He has assumed leadership roles in a variety of committees and organizations, including co-chair of the Maryland Fine Arts Education Advisory Panel, a member of the Montgomery County Gang Task Force and University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Advisory Committee for Education.
Dr. Maxwell holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Language, Literacy and Culture from UMBC. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Maryland. In 2008, he was named UMBC Alumnus of the Year in Humanities.
Dr. Maxwell’s children – three daughters and one son – are all graduates of Maryland public schools. His hobbies include reading, traveling and collecting tropical fish. He and his wife Nancy live in Bowie.