On Nov. 1, 2025, Pamela Odom G’03 will become the new Superintendent of the Syracuse City School District (SCSD), the third Syracuse University graduate in a row to take the reins of the city’s schools.
A graduate of the School of Education’s Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership program, Odom follows Anthony Davis G’03 (Special Education), whose retirement goes into effect on October 31. In turn, Davis took over from Jaime Alicea G’88 (Foreign Language Education), who stepped down in 2022.
The SCSD Board of Education near-unanimously selected Odom at its Aug. 27, 2025, meeting. Said Odom at the time of her selection, “I am incredibly honored and humbled to serve as the next Superintendent of the Syracuse City School District. I want to thank the Board of Education for entrusting me with this opportunity and Superintendent Davis for his mentorship and unwavering dedication to our students. He has laid a strong foundation, and I am committed to continuing the work we’ve started; championing equity, empowering educators, and ensuring every child has the support they need to thrive.”
Odom has served her school district for more than 30 years. Beginning as a teaching assistant, substitute teacher, and administrative assistant, her administrative career continued with her appointment as Vice Principal of Corcoran High School and then Principal of Clary and Grant middle schools. Following those appointments, she supervised the district’s middle schools and later becoming an assistant superintendent with oversight of secondary schools, career and technical education, athletics, and adult education.
A graduate of SCSD’s Nottingham High School, as an undergraduate Odom attended St. John’s University in Staten Island, NY, graduating in 1994. She played basketball at both Nottingham and St. John’s, earning two All-Big East selections for the Red Storm. She earned her master’s degree from SUNY Oswego before taking a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership from Syracuse University.
SOE caught up with Odom to ask about her approach to her superintendent role; what students, parents, and community members can expect from her tenure; and after three decades in education, what advice she has for new teachers.
“I want all our kids to receive a wonderful education, where they have a choice and a voice.”
Describe your approach to your new role …
My approach is to continue to involve the community, student choice and voice, and staff, being collaborative and bringing people to the table with shared decision making.
We are in the process of setting up meetings in the community with Superintendent Davis as we do our hand-off, so the community can get to know me and the things I want to focus on. We’re going into churches, boy’s and girl’s clubs, and libraries. I want to have the community involved in all the things that are going well and in those we can improve upon.
My emphasis continues to be on the district’s strategic plan, on an equitable voice for the students, in finding the right staff and retaining them, on literacy and numeracy, and on creating pathways that enable students to go to college or into workforce.
What current trends do you see in education and how are you addressing them?
We are making a big push about chronic absenteeism, focusing on educating parents. We want to educate them that if a child misses one or two days a week, those can add up. We want them to understand instructional loss and what that looks like in the classroom.
So, as part of our Chronic Absentee Plan 2.0, we are doing home visits and coming up with individualized plans to help get children into school, helping families where we can. Parents and guardians have been supportive. We’ve done a lot to educate them about what the ramifications are when a child misses school.
How did the School of Education prepare you for your new role?
Syracuse was wonderful in that it prepared me for educational administration through doing hands-on scenarios.
Professor Diane Canino-Rispoli was a mentor and a friend, and as a former teacher, she knew what was happening in urban education. She would have us do group scenarios and collaborate with our classmates—about parent situations or operational situations such as a fire alarm going off. You had to work side by side with your group to come up with a plan.
That work prepared you by putting you in a leadership role and asking how your decisions impact students and staff, how you would answer to your superintendent, and so on. These were real-life, hands-on experiences to make sure you were prepped and prepared.
It was not just one experience but multiple experiences about the kinds of things you need to know. This way, I was prepped how to work with a team to find solutions and to make sure that we were ready to go and that we did not panic. I still utilize these strategies to this day.
Who else stood out for you in SOE’s educational leadership program?
Professor George Theoharis has been wonderful, as was Leela George, who replaced Diane and who has just retired herself.
I worked with George and Leela as an assistant and then deputy superintendent. I applaud the work they are doing and their push for diversity, equity, and belonging in education. It’s nice to watch. Members of our district team are working with them now, and that keeps me involved in some capacity.
What is your hope for the future of education and learning?
I want all our kids to receive a wonderful education, where they have a choice and a voice and when they graduate, they have opportunities either to go to college or go into the workforce.
We have a plethora of choices for our students, about 40 different pathways, and we keep adding more as we look to help build the city’s workforce and work with local businesses. You don’t have to do just one pathway anymore. I didn’t have those opportunities at school, but we are going to give them to our students.
What advice do you have for an SOE teacher preparation student?
I would say to them that I am thrilled you have chosen education. Having an opportunity to work with students is a gift. After 31 years in education, it’s as fulfilling to me as when I was a freshman. You get back threefold what you put in.
Being an educator means you are a lifelong learner, and you want to pass that along to your students. I have students I taught 20 to 25 years ago who became teachers themselves, and they say, I’m glad I had you as a teacher, it is so fulfilling to teach the next generation of lawyers, doctors, and teachers.