In mid-October of 2023, MMSD announced that Jay Affeldt, former district administrator and high school principal, has been named Associate Superintendent of High Schools. In this role, he will provide instructional leadership and coaching to the district’s six high school principals to ensure strong school cultures as well as provide oversight to the district’s secondary athletics programs.

Mr. Affeldt is a Madison native who attended Orchard Ridge Elementary, and Toki Middle School and is a proud graduate of Vel Phillips Memorial High School. Following in his mom’s footsteps, who was a teacher in MMSD for over 30 years, he began working in the district as a high school science teacher at Memorial over 25 years ago. Since then, he has also been a Professional Development Coordinator, a Varsity Head Coach, an Assistant Principal, and Principal of Vel Phillips Memorial. 

He served as the district’s Executive Director of Student & Staff Support from 2018-2021, supporting the district’s COVID response. Most recently, Mr. Affeldt has been an Instructional Coach back at Memorial, leading the Instructional Leadership Team and school improvement efforts, while also supporting and coaching teachers.  

“Throughout my career, I have worked to build strong and trusting relationships with students, families, and staff to bring our district vision to life,” Mr. Affeldt said. He has coordinated large-scale communications as well as safety and critical response systems. He brings a wealth of systems knowledge and experience to his new role as Associate Superintendent of High Schools.

Mr. Affeldt obtained his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also earned two master’s degrees from UW-Madison in Educational Psychology as well as Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, including two adult children who graduated from Madison West High School.