The Spokane Public Schools board of directors named Dr. Adam Swinyard superintendent in the summer of 2020. In his role as superintendent for one of the state’s largest school districts, Dr. Swinyard is tasked with implementing the district’s vision, goals and policies.
In the fall of 2022, Dr. Swinyard was named the Superintendent of the Year by the Washington Association of School Administrators. In December of 2022, he was recognized as a 'Superintendent to Watch' by the National School Public Relations Association.
Dr. Swinyard previously served as the district’s associate superintendent for teaching and learning and director of secondary schools.
A native of Deer Park, Wash., Dr. Swinyard earned his B.A. in secondary education from Northwest University. He earned his M.Ed, Ed.D in executive leadership, and Washington State Principal and Superintendent credentials from Seattle Pacific University. In 2016, Dr. Swinyard received the Research on Superintendency Dissertation of the Year Award from the American Educational Research Association.
Prior to working in district administration, Dr. Swinyard was the principal at Sacajawea Middle School in Spokane from 2013 – 2016. In that role, he was twice nominated for the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP) Washington State Middle School Principal of the Year Award. He was an AWSP Regional Principal of the Year winner in 2015.
Prior to his time leading Sacajawea, Dr. Swinyard was an assistant principal at Cheney High School in Cheney, Wash., and principal assistant at Garry Middle School in Spokane.
Dr. Swinyard has teaching experience in health and fitness, language arts and social studies in western Washington school districts that include Glacier Peak High School in the Snohomish School District, and McAuliffe Elementary School in Redmond.
Dr. Swinyard and his wife have three children.
Dr. Swinyard was a guest of the 'An Imperfect Leader' podcast in March of 2023, where he talked about his research on the relationship between assessing school culture and achieving school success, as well as his leadership during the coronavirus pandemic.