York Grad Becomes New D-205 Leader

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst School District 205 on Tuesday selected a York High School graduate as its new superintendent.

At its meeting, the school board unanimously voted for Keisha Campbell. She is now the director of school leadership with the Academy for Urban School Leadership in Chicago. It is a nonprofit group with a network of 31 Chicago public schools with more than 16,000 students.

The board approved a three-year contract for Campbell. She starts July 1. Her salary for the next school year will be $225,000, the district said.

According to a district news release, Campbell started with the Academy for Urban School Leadership in 2012. She is in charge of leadership development and school academic achievement in eight schools with more than 4,000 students.

The board said it interviewed eight semifinalists for the position. Then the board narrowed the group to three finalists, who returned for interviews with stakeholder groups such as students, teachers, parents, residents, administrators and support staff, according to a district news release. The district has kept the other finalists' names secret.

Campbell, who lives in Elmhurst, has two children in the district's schools. She called the superintendent's job "a dream come true."

"I'm excited and so ready to take this journey along with you all. I am committed, just as you all are, to our students and ensuring that we have the best schools in the nation and in our state," Campbell told the board. "This is an absolute dream come true."

After graduating from York High School, Campbell received her bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Illinois State University and master's and doctorate degrees in educational leadership from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Her educational experience includes classroom teacher, school-based instructional coach, district literary coach and an elementary-middle school principal.

As a building principal, Campbell's leadership resulted in an increase of 30 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards in three years, 98 percent of students meeting national growth targets in math and 90 of students meeting literacy targets, according to the news release.

Board member Karen Stuefen said Campbell's references showed she has a way of inspiring people.

"What I heard was everyone wants to work for you, and no one wants to leave you," Stuefen said. "What helped them embrace things is that you spoke from their perspective... Therefore, they wanted to be on board."

Member Courtenae Trautmann agreed.

"It was infectious how much people just wanted to succeed because of you and how you inspired them. That's an amazing gift. I can't wait to see it in action in our district," Trautmann said. "I am feeling optimistic, and that's something to be said after the year we all have endured."

In January, then-Superintendent Dave Moyer announced he would leave June 30 to take a superintendent's position in New York State. In March, though, he and the board decided that he should leave March 31, three months earlier than expected.

Former York High School Principal Linda Yonke, who was with the district's superintendent search firm, is set to be the interim superintendent through June 30.