The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

School board announces new principals

When Glenbrook South principal Brian Wegley announced he was taking a superintendent position in District 30, Mike Riggle, Glenbrook High School District 225 superintendent, was in a situation he had never dealt with before. Until this year, Riggle never had to hire two principals at the same time.

“I was concerned,” said Riggle. “[Hiring a principal] is a competition, and there’s a lot of good places where people would desire to be a principal.”

On Feb. 18, the Board of Education announced the new principals for the Glenbrook high schools. Starting in the 2015-2016 school year, John Finan, associate principal of administrative services, will be the new Glenbrook North principal, and Lauren Fagel, assistant superintendent for curriculum in Lake Forest School Districts 67 and 115, will be the principal at GBS.

new principal
Superintendent Mike Riggle (far right) congratulates John Finan, associate principal of administrative services, at the Board of Education meeting on Feb. 18. Finan was named Glenbrook North’s new principal, effective July 1, 2015. Photo by Gabe Weininger.

Riggle said the hiring process was “difficult” and “unique.” To create the best pool of applicants, Riggle said the school board hired Ray and Associates Inc. to assist in recruiting and selecting possible candidates.

“[Ray and Associates Inc.] has a network that can actively go out to recruit people,” said Riggle. “Just because you advertise the job [opening] doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily going to get everyone to respond.”

After Ray and Associates Inc. found qualified applicants, the GBN and GBS candidates went through a series of interviews at their respective school, Riggle said. He said there were three committees compiled of teachers, administrators and students.

Ed Solis, instructional supervisor of the English Department, was on one of the committees and said he interviewed seven candidates.

“As a committee, we formulated questions,” said Solis. “Some of the questions were administrative questions in nature, and some [were about] teaching, learning and curriculum.”

Solis said the committees then gave written and electronic feedback to the administration, which decided which applicants went to the next round.

Junior Yesha Shah was on one of the committees dedicated to asking the candidates questions about the culture of GBN. She said her committee created questions regarding the “three A’s: academics, athletics and activities.”

According to Riggle, one of the biggest challenges in hiring two principals was searching for applicants that fulfilled the newly changed state requirements, which require applicants to have acquired a principal license from the state of Illinois.

“Someone coming from outside of the state of Illinois and doesn’t already have a [license] from the state of Illinois would not be qualified to be hired as a principal,” said Riggle. “[The law is] not something we’re pleased with, but we [were] confident that the outcome [was] going to be good with the pool that [we had] to recruit.”

Shah said she “feels good” with the hiring process.

“The main thing I hope is that [the new principal will] keep on encouraging kids to do what they want to do and to be in whatever activities they want to be in,” said Shah. “I hope the new principal really encourages the kids and [makes] sure [the students] have someone supporting them.”