Euclid Schools Launch 2026-27 Year with New Superintendent, 'IMPACT' Theme, and Nails Academy Partnership

Euclid City Schools opened the 2026-27 school year under a new superintendent, a new motivational rallying cry, and a new trade-skills partnership — a combination that could signal a sharper turn toward workforce preparation for the district's roughly 4,650 students.

Superintendent Karen Brown, appointed in April 2026, led her first annual staff convocation on Aug. 12, introducing "IMPACT" as the district's word of the year. That same day, the Euclid Board of Education approved a partnership with Rozell's Nails Academy to provide technical education for the Euclid Schools Manicuring Program at Euclid High School.

Whether the theme and the partnership add up to a coherent workforce-development strategy — or are early steps still finding their footing — is the question Euclid families will be watching Brown answer in the months ahead.

A career-education leader takes the top job

Brown is no newcomer to the district. She has spent more than 25 years with Euclid Schools, starting as an English teacher at Euclid High School and moving through roles as school counselor, Coordinator of Career Technical Education/Post-Secondary Enrollment Options, Coordinator/Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Assistant Superintendent from 2020 until her appointment this spring. Her time overseeing career-technical education gives her a direct line to the kind of programming the Rozell's partnership represents.

At convocation, Brown challenged staff to ask themselves, "What impact am I having on the people around me?" She told them that impact is measured by the difference they make in others' lives, not by how busy they are. The theme ties into what the district calls its "Competitive Advantage" framework. "It's our people that make the impact and give our students a Competitive Advantage," Brown said.

A trade pathway, in context

The Rozell's Nails Academy agreement adds a manicuring credential to Euclid High School's career-technical portfolio, which already includes 14 CTE programs — among them automation and robotics, culinary arts, exercise science and sports medicine, teaching professions, and welding. Ohio requires 200 hours of board-approved training for an entry-level manicuring license; applicants must be at least 16 with the equivalent of a 10th-grade education.

The field offers a viable entry point: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of manicurists and pedicurists to grow 9 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, and Ohio employed about 3,510 workers in the trade as of May 2023.

All five board members — Gabrielle Kelly, Evan Botzki, Tia Otoo, Scott Wilson, and Selina Wright — were present for the Aug. 12 vote.

School year under way

Students in grades 1–6 and ninth grade returned Aug. 17, with grades 7, 8, and 10–12 following on Aug. 18. The district held a Back to School Bash on Saturday, Aug. 15, at Euclid High School's Daugherty Gymnasium from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering school supplies, haircuts, vendor booths, community service providers, voter registration, and giveaways.

The district has not yet announced additional workforce partnerships or CTE expansions beyond the Rozell's Nails Academy agreement. Brown has the résumé and the rhetoric to build a broader workforce pipeline for Euclid students — the open question is whether the nails academy partnership is the first tile in a larger mosaic or, for now, a standalone addition.