Park Leadership Announcement
Dear Park Community,
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Jillian Anderson as the next principal of Park School. Ms. Anderson will officially join our team on July 1, 2018. She will succeed Marlene Grossman who announced her retirement earlier this year. Marlene is a tremendous leader who cares very deeply for the students, staff, and families at Park School. She will truly be missed and we wish her all the best.
As part of the Park principal selection process, two meetings were held to gather input from staff and families. To ensure all school community members could provide feedback, an online and paper survey were also available. This information was used to generate a leadership profile outlining skills and attributes desired for the next school principal. We received very insightful comments on the need to balance teaching and administrative experience with a thorough knowledge of special education. In addition, the feedback focused on selecting someone who has a genuine level of compassion and care and who will recognize the many strengths offered by every member of the Park School community.
During our screening process we came across Ms. Anderson who we felt was an incredibly strong fit for this position, meeting practically all of the criteria outlined in the leadership profile. Her experience and enthusiasms were unparalleled to other candidates we met. She continually demonstrated a strong and substantive connection to Park in her interviews with representatives from both District 65 and District 202.
For the past five years, Ms. Anderson served as an Assistant Principal at Kirk School, part of the North Shore Special Education Organization. Kirk school closely mirrors the Park community. Prior to being an assistant principal, she was a self-contained special education teacher for seven years at Kirk. She has a great deal of experience collaborating with and leading teachers on curriculum and assessment development, transition planning, safety, and behavioral concerns. She is an advocate for her students and strongly believes in regular collaboration with families. Jill has a Master of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science in Special Education from Illinois State University.
Ms. Anderson has shared her excitement in joining the Park school family and looks forward to hosting a ‘meet and greet’ opportunity prior to her July 1 start date. Please join me in welcoming Jillian Anderson to Park School and District 65.
Kind Regards,
Paul
Paul D. Goren
Superintendent
Evanston/Skokie District 65
