Two Minooka 201 teachers promoted to assistant principals

MINOOKA – Two assistant principals will oversee the four elementary schools in Minooka District 201, which have not had the position since the 2008-09 academic year.

The Board of Education passed the motion Monday for the hires, with Vice President John Clucas absent and members Doug Martin and Curt Jebens abstaining.

Sarah Monroe, a second-grade teacher at Jones Elementary, has been assigned to Jones and Walnut Trails elementary schools and Jeanine Ruggeri, a first-grade teacher at Minooka Elementary will cover Minooka and Aux Sable elementary schools beginning in the 2016-17 school year.

“I’m excited and eager. I have been in the classroom for 18 years and now I am ready for the next challenge,” Ruggeri said.

The need for the positions was first discussed at the February board meeting, when Superintendent Kris Monn stressed that "growth is here" and "some schools can say they are bursting at the seams."

Before Jones opened in 2009, the other three elementary schools had assistant principals, but after Jones opened, the student numbers leveled out, eliminating the need for the administrative positions.

The second determining factor for the reintroduction of assistant principals is the district’s decision to use the Charlotte Danielson Framework for teacher evaluation, which requires a more extensive evaluation than current practices.

“The administration will be really busy, and a huge change is coming in the future with the use of the Danielson [Framework], because there is more data and time with this evaluation system,” assistant superintendent Stef Palaniuk said.

Palaniuk said there are four main parts to this type of evaluation: pre-observation, a three-observation cycle, a conference with the teacher and a post-conference meeting. After that, the administration would put together a final report.

“I will bring passion, love for community and support to the teachers, students and parents. In the classroom I could impact 25 kids, but I want to make a difference on a grander scale,” Monroe said.

The board also voted, after the third reading, to change the language to policy 7:30, which originally allowed only employees of the district to file a transfer to the superintendent for their children to attend a school not within their boundaries. Monn said it has now changed so anyone living in the district can request an intra-district transfer to the desired school's principal, and it will be at that principal's discretion whether to allow the transfer or not based on the school's capabilities to accept the child.

Other action items passed were to maintain $154 per student per year enrollment fees but to raise school lunch fees to $2.55 per lunch. The board also voted to upgrade the wireless network services at Minooka Intermediate and Minooka Junior High schools and the wired services at Minooka Junior High School.