2 longtime D. 202 educators will assume new leadership positions for 2021-2022 school year

The board of education at Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 in Plainfield recently named a new principal at Ride Elementary School and a new assistant principal at Aux Sable Middle School, both in Plainfield, according to a news release from the district.

Current Creekside Elementary School assistant principal Kyle Harej will become the new principal at Ridge Elementary School.

Current Aux Sable Middle School science teacher and principal intern Elizabeth Simonic will become Aux Sable’s new assistant principal.

The Board of Education made the appointments at its regular meeting on May 10. Harej and Simonic, who both started their careers at District 202, will begin their new roles on July 1, according to the release.

Harej will replace Stacey DiBitetto, who was recently named principal at District 202′s newest elementary school, Wallin Oaks.

From 2008 to 2010, Harej served as a fourth and fifth grade special education teacher at Meadow View Elementary School. Then he served as a special education teacher at Eichelberger Elementary from 2010 to 2014.

Harej also served as assistant principal at River View Elementary from 2014-2019. He moved to his current position at Creekside in 2019.

Simonic will replace current Aux Sable Assistant Principal Lisa Lipinski, who has accepted a position in another district.

She taught science at Plainfield East High School from 2016 to 2019. She has served as an instructional coach and principal intern since 2018. She also started teaching science at Aux Sable Middle School in 2019.