Interim principal, asst. principal picked for Yorkville’s Grande Reserve Elementary School

YORKVILLE – An interim principal and assistant principal have been selected to lead Grande Reserve Elementary School, according to Yorkville School District 115 officials.

The Yorkville School District 115 Board of Education voted, 7-0, during their Monday, Oct. 28 regular meeting to approve Michele Breyne and Sarah Countryman as the interim principal and interim assistant principal, respectively, for Grande Reserve Elementary School for the remainder of the school year.

Breyne will transfer from her position as assistant principal to assume the interim principal role following the recent departure of former principal Robert Battey, whose resignation the school board also approved during the Monday meeting. According to a news release from the school district, Battey had been principal at the school for four years before leaving the state to pursue a school administration career serving military families.

Breyne served as a high school dean of students at both the freshman academy and main campus for Yorkville High School before becoming the school’s assistant principal. She also taught mathematics at the high school for seven years. Her first teaching job was in the St. Anne Community High School District before coming to Yorkville in the fall of 2002, the news release said.

“I am excited for the opportunity to continue serving the families of Grande Reserve Elementary School,” Breyne said in the news release. “I look forward to taking on this new role and the new learning that comes with it.”

Breyne earned her associate’s degree from Waubonsee Community College and her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Illinois State University, the news release said. After a couple of years in the classroom, she earned her master’s degree at Walden University in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. She enrolled at Aurora University in 2009 to complete her Type 75 certification and become an administrator.

Countryman will assume the interim assistant principal position vacated by Breyne. She said in the news release she began her teaching career at the elementary school and has worked at the school since it opened in 2006. Currently, she is a second grade teacher at the school.

Countryman earned her master’s degree in school leadership from St. Francis University and her bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University, according to the news release.

Countryman said in the news release she is excited to take on the assistant principal role.

“While I will certainly miss being in the classroom with my current students, I’m thankful I will remain in the building and be able to continue to watch them grow,” Countryman said in the news release.

School district officials said in the news release the process has already begun to identify a certified teacher to fill Countryman’s second-grade classroom vacancy. Countryman will help select the teacher and their transition into the role.

The district plans to have Countryman’s replacement selected and working with students within the next two weeks, the news release said.