Kimberly Russo, more commonly known as Chef Russo at SHS, has made a great impression on her students and people who are lucky enough to meet her. Although many say amazing things about her, only a few know the story of Chef Russo.

Russo was born in Stamford and raised in Norwalk. She found her love for cooking early in her life and she explains that it was inspired by her father and his business.  “My dad owned a restaurant, which sparked my interest in the hospitality industry,” she said.  Russo’s father owned Gregory’s Restaurant in Norwalk, and her mother worked as the restaurant’s hostess while also staying at home to help raise her three daughters.

Chef Russo has an identical twin who she describes as her lifelong best friend, someone she could share her difficult childhood experiences with. At times, she and her twin would have regular sibling arguments, but that never got in the way of their bond or their willingness to help each other. As a child, she always had a best friend to spend time with. She also has an older sister.  Chef Russo is now a wife and mother of three: a 30-year-old daughter and twin boys who are 26.

Russo attended Brien McMahon High School and later the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she majored in hotel and restaurant management. After graduation, she worked for Marriott and various catering businesses. While she enjoyed the work, she realized it wasn’t what she wanted to do long-term.  “Catering brought me to teaching,” she explained.  Her catering experience led to a part-time teaching job at Staples High School, where she discovered her love for teaching high school students.  “I felt like the kids were good, and the administrators were nice at Staples High School,” she said.

After four years at Staples, Russo sought a full-time position and was recruited by Wilton High School, where she taught for 12 years. Towards the end of her time at Wilton, she began feeling dissatisfied.  “I started to get a little unhappy with this job. I felt like there wasn’t a lot of accountability for the kids’ actions, and that disappointed me as a parent,” she said.

Looking for a change, Chef Russo applied for a position at SHS, where she was subsequently hired. She felt happy and at home at Stamford High, finally finding a school that aligned with her beliefs.  “I have been so happy here. I feel like the students are respectful, and the administration holds students accountable, and that’s something I believe in,” she said.  On the first day of her new job at SHS, Mr. Forker welcomed her and told her a phrase that stuck with her: “We’re not going to let a bunch of 14-year-olds tell us what to do.” Chef Russo now plans to stay at Stamford High until she retires.

Although she is mostly focused on work and her love for cooking, Chef Russo is also a highly skilled distance swimmer, a passion she has pursued for much of her life.  “I swam from Virginia to Maryland as a solo swim that was seven miles,” she said.  Russo finds a sense of calm in the water and has swam across the Sound 11 times as part of a relay team. The team swims from Port Jefferson, New York, to Bridgeport, a journey that takes anywhere from seven to nine hours depending on the swimmer, water, weather and current. Chef Russo said that when she retires, she plans to return to her favorite hobby: swimming.