PROVIDENCE — Deborah A. Gist didn’t get a lot of sleep during her first week as Rhode Island’s education commissioner, but she didn’t seem to need much rest.

The 42-year-old, who has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and run marathons, exuded energy and enthusiasm as she met with student groups, visited math and reading clinics for low-income students, spent time at a preschool in Fox Point, attended a panel discussion on improving education at the Rhode Island Foundation and helped announce five summer learning programs in Woonsocket — in just two days.

Tuesday, she began an 8 a.m. meeting with her staff at the state Department of Education with a proposition: “Are you ready to change the world?”

“I am ready to go,” Gist said shortly before her official first day, July 1. “I am so excited about this opportunity, I honestly feel like I am walking on clouds. I am realistic about the challenges. I recognize the mountain we are about to scale. But I love a good challenge.”

Gist knows her biggest hurdle will be significantly improving student achievement among all groups — low-income, minority, white, special education.

Already, after just a few weeks working alongside her predecessor, Peter McWalters, who served as schools chief for 17½ years before departing June 30, she is asking the same question that plagued him:

Despite years of changes and reforms and high per-pupil expenditures and teacher salaries, why do students in Rhode Island continue to lag when measured against the rest of New England and are stuck in the middle of the pack nationally?

“While there has been progress, none of us is satisfied with the progress,” she says.

Gist, who held a similar job as state superintendent of schools in Washington, D.C., and twice earned teacher-of-the-year awards while teaching elementary school in Texas and Florida, says improving teacher quality will be at the heart of her work.

“There are excellent schools, teachers and programs here,” Gist said. “We need to do everything we can to support our teachers and to make sure we are keeping the very best.” “Whatever agenda we have will have students at the center and teachers as the key for making improvement,” she said.

Gist spent most of June working with McWalters to ensure a smooth transition and poring over test score data. She plans to spend the summer traveling around the state meeting with groups including lawmakers, teacher unions, school committees, parent organizations, students, civic and faith-based groups.

“I will meet with any group that wants me to come,” she said.

This fall she intends to visit all 36 school districts and every charter and state-operated school by the middle of October.

Her new job has left her little time to relax, run or bike, but she says she doesn’t miss those pursuits right now.

“My batteries get recharged by getting stuff done. That’s incredibly energizing,” she said. “I don’t draw a huge distinction between my work and play.”

Her husband, Jock Friedly, is a former investigative reporter who runs Web sites that allow users to download information about government salaries. He remains at their home in Washington, D.C., with their dog, but commutes to Providence on weekends. The couple has rented a loft in downtown Providence, which allows Gist to walk to work. Gist brought the couple’s cat with her.

Gist, the first woman to serve as Rhode Island’s schools chief, takes over during a period of intense financial pressure and increased scrutiny nationally about states’ role in improving student achievement.

The General Assembly, facing a deficit, cut roughly $6 million set aside for professional development for teachers. Cities and towns across the state are clamoring for an equitable formula for distributing state school aid. Rhode Island is the only state in the nation without a formula.

The Rhode Island Department of Education has 121 employees, down from 156 five years ago, and has eliminated several key departments and positions dedicated to helping struggling schools. Gist appears undeterred by these issues.

“Improving schools needs to be the work of the entire department, not just a department,” she said. She also promises to be tough, despite her cheerful demeanor.

“I think it’s unfortunate when people think you can’t be aggressive and operate with a sense of urgency and at the same time, act with kindness,” she said. “It’s not naiveté. It’s not that I don’t realize this will be incredibly difficult.

“I’m just ready.”

jjordan@projo.com