At the March 11 District 65 School Board meeting, Board President Tracy Quattrocki announced the five final candidates for the next superintendent for the District. They are Ms. Julie Glazer, Dr. Paul Goren, Dr. Nathan McCann, Dr. Quintin Shepherd and Mr. Marty Smith.
Last fall, the Board of Education hired the executive search firm of Hazard, Young & Attea to conduct a nationwide search for a superintendent to replace Dr. Hardy Murphy who served as the D65 superintendent for 13 years.
“The Board of Education received nearly 60 applications for the superintendent position, and the pool included many qualified educators who offered great diversity in terms of race, gender, and professional background,” said Ms. Quattrocki. “After reviewing the applications, the Board selected nine semifinalists whose experience and educational philosophy most closely aligned with the leadership profile created by the Evanston/Skokie community. The five categories identified as most important for the next District 65 Superintendent include a collaborative style, instructional leadership experience, commitment to issues of equity, strong financial acumen, and the ability to recruit and retain great teachers, administrators and staff.”
The Board met on Feb. 27 and March 1 to interview the nine candidates and then met again on March 7 to discuss them. “We narrowed the field to five final candidates for the next superintendent,” said Ms. Quattrocki.
The five finalists have been invited back for further interviews, and the visits will include an opportunity for faculty, staff and community members to meet with the candidates in public forums. Ms. Glazer will be available on March 17, Dr. McCann on March 18, Dr. Goren on March 19, Dr. Shepherd on March 20 and Mr. Smith on March 21. On each day, a forum will be held between 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. for faculty and staff and between 6:15 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. for community members. All of the forums will be held at King Lab Literary & Fine Arts School Auditorium, 2424 Lake St.
“As was the case with the leadership profile, we are eager to gather feedback from the community that we will incorporate into our deliberations before making our final decision,” said Ms. Quattrocki. “We are truly excited to have such a talented group of educators to interview for the role of Superintendent of District 65. We recognize that Evanston is a unique community that attracts promising leaders from across the country and we look forward to hearing your thoughts about our final candidates,” she added.
Persons unable to attend the forums may submit questions to Melissa Burda, Communications Coordinator, at burdam@district65.net, prior to the event. Each public forum will be filmed by ECTV and will be available at www.ectv.com.
The Board also approved holding closed session meetings on each day during the week of March 17 for the purpose of reviewing candidates for superintendent.
The District has posted on its website the biographies and responses to open-ended questions that were prepared by each candidate. Click on the link below for access to the bios.
Julie Glazer received an MA, Teaching and Learning from DePaul University (2002) and is a doctoral candidate in educational leadership and administration at St. Peters University. She has been the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and assessment for Summit, N.J., public schools since Aug. 2008. She began her teaching career as a fifth-grade teacher at Lincolnwood School, Evanston, in 1997, and has 16 years experience in education.
Ms. Glazer served as president of her own company for more than 10 years in arts and educational programing for clients. She serves on the board, Leaning Forward, an educational professional learning association in New Jersey.
Paul Goren received a Ph.D. from Stanford University School of Education. In the last ten years, he has served as Senior Vice President for Program, CASEL, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, a national effort in eight urban school districts (2012-present); Interim Chief, Chicago Public Schools Office of Strategy, and Accountability/Executive Director, University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (2010-12); and Senior Vice President, The Spencer Foundation, which investigates ways in which education can be improved (2001-10).
His Board service includes Noyce Foundation, which focuses on ways to improve teaching in math and science, Palo Alto, CA. (2012-present); Center for Teaching Quality, focus on teachers transforming teaching, Carrboro, NC (2011-present), TERC, an educational research and development organization, Cambridge MA (2005-11); Youth Organizations Umbrella (2002-present); Foundation 65 (2009-present). Dr. Goren is a resident of Evanston.
Nathan McCann received an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Arizona. In the last ten years, he has served as Superintendent of Altar Valley School District in Arizona (July 2010-present) and as a classroom teacher and as an administrator at middle and high school levels in multiple school districts (July 1999-June 2010).
His civic service includes board/council member for Tucson Values Teachers; First Things First; University of Arizona Professional Preparation Board; and Southern Arizona P-20 Council. He has been awarded Arizona Superintendent of the Year and National Assistant Principal of the Year. Dr. McCann resides in Tucson, AZ.
Marty Smith received a Masters of Arts in Education Leadership from George Mason University and is pursuing a doctorate in education from Virginia Tech and a Virginia Superintendent’s license. He is an Assistant Superintendent of Cluster 1 Schools Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, VA (July 2009-present). He provides oversight to 22 schools.
Mr. Smith has received an ET3 (Educational Technology Think-Tank) Tec Champion Award, The Congressional Black Caucus of the United States Congress; and the President’s Award Fairfax Association of Black School Educators. Mr. Smith resides in Alexandria VA.
Quintin Shepherd received a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Foundations from Illinois State University. He is Superintendent of Skokie/Morton Grove District No. 69, a three-school district (2011-present). He was previously the Superintendent of Amboy Consolidated School District No. 272 in Illinois, for three years. He also served as the principal of Amboy High School, the principal of an elementary school, and a music teacher.
Mr. Shepherd was named Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and serves on the community council of Youth Organization Umbrella. He is a resident of Skokie.
Click on the link below to review the bios and responses to open questions prepared by each candidate.
The Search Process- A Chronology
9/10/13 – The District 65 School Board began discussing the process to follow in searching for a new superintendent.
10/21/13 – The Board selected four search firms to interview to help in the search process. Seven firms submitted proposals in response to a request issued by the District.
10/29/13 – The Board interviewed four search firms and selected Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates owned by the ECRA Group in Rosemont, IL to assist in the process.
11/4/13 – The Board decided on the parameters of the search process, including they will gather input from stakeholders in surveys, interviews and forums to identify the desired characteristics of a new superintendent and to develop a profile to use in advertising for the position and to help guide the search process.
HY&A representatives said they will use 100 associates around the country to recommend candidates who match the profile. HYA will also draw on its contacts with various associations to solicit candidates, including African American and Latino candidates.
11/6/13 – District 65 posted a survey on its website to gather input from middle- and high-school students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members on the desired characteristics of a new superintendent 1,462 persons responded.
12/13 through 12/17 – HY&A conducts individual interviews and small group meetings to gather input from School Board members, administrators, teachers, staff, former School Board members, and representatives of School District 202. Representatives of approximately 25 community groups were invited to attend the small group meetings to provide their views. The groups included CASE, Chessman Club, Childcare Network, ETHS, FAAM, Family Focus, Fleetwood Jordain, Latino Resources, McGaw YMCA, Moran Center, NAACP, Northwestern University, Women’s Club of Evanston, Youth Job Center, Y.O.U., YWCA and others. Four community-wide forums were also held to gather input. HY&A gathered views from 253 persons in the interviews and forums
12/16/13 – HY&A presented to the School Board a lengthy “Leadership Profile Report” which summarized the views gathered from stakeholders. The Board used the report to develop a list of the desired characteristics of a new superintendent. Some of the key characteristics that evolved include a collaborative style, instructional leadership, commitment to issues of equity, strong financial acumen and ability to recruit and retain great teachers, administrators and staff. HY&A used the profile in advertising for the position and in soliciting and interviewing potential candidates.
1/21/14 – The Board announced that HY&A had been interviewing potential candidates by phone, Skype and in person to narrow the field to approximately 20-25 candidates whom they will interview in more depth. Almost 60 persons applied. After the more in-depth interviews, HY&A narrowed the field to nine candidates, whose names were provided to the Board on Feb. 18 in closed session.
2/27/14 and 3/1/14 – The Board interviewed the nine candidates and met on March 7 to discuss the candidates.
3/10/14 – The Board announced that it has selected five final candidates and scheduled public forums at which teachers, staff and community members may meet the candidates during the week of March 17.