Retired Superintendent, Clark County School District
Board Member: Educators
Pat Skorkowsky has spent the last 27 years as an educator in the Clark County School District. He has served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, academic manager, deputy superintendent and now as superintendent.
Skorkowsky started his career as a first-grade teacher at C. C. Ronnow Elementary School in 1988, after moving to Las Vegas straight from Oklahoma upon graduating. It was there that he developed the teaching philosophy that today drives the nation’s fifth-largest school district: The idea that we can reach “every student in every classroom, without exceptions, without excuses.”
Since he began his tenure as Superintendent in June 2013, Skorkowsky has outlined an ambitious and aggressive agenda to improve academic outcomes for every student in the District called “The Pledge of Achievement,” which can be found at PledgeofAchievement.com. He also outlined a District Scorecard, which measures the district’s progress on six important goals: increasing third-grade proficiency, increasing the graduation rate, reducing achievement gaps, increasing family engagement, ensuring student safety and happiness, and increasing student participation in career and technical and magnet programs.
Skorkowsky is an active member of the community, serving on the boards of several community organizations, including the Discovery Children’s Museum, the United Way of Southern Nevada, and the Jobs for Nevada’s Graduates. He was named the UNLV College of Education Alumni of the Year in 2013 and he received the State PTA President’s Special Award in 2014.
He grew up in a small town in central Oklahoma, received his bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In November, 2013, Skorkowsky was named the UNLV Alumni of the Year for the College of Education.School.