District 97 Appoints New Principal For Brooks School

Submitted by Oak Park Elementary School District 97.

During its meeting this evening, the District 97 Board of Education approved the appointment of LeeAndra Khan as the principal of Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School. Khan will be replacing Mike Michowski, who resigned in April to take an elementary school position in another district. She will start at Brooks on July 1.

“I want to thank Mike for his dedicated service during the past three years, and wish him the best in his new position,” said Superintendent Al Roberts “I also want to welcome LeeAndra to the District 97 family. She is an innovative educational leader and tireless advocate for children whose passion, creativity and commitment to learning will build on the history of success at Brooks and help the school, its staff members and its students reach exciting new heights.”

Prior to joining Brooks, Khan served as the principal of Bronzeville Scholastic Institute in Chicago for three years. She was an interim principal and assistant principal at King College Prep High School for four years. She was also a math teacher at Whitney M. Young Magnet School for two years and at George Henry Corliss High School for a year.

Before embarking on a career in education, Khan spent 10 years working as a civil/design engineer in several of Chicago’s top engineering firms, including Parsons Brinckerhoff, A. Epstein & Sons and Patrick Engineering. Khan holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois and master’s degrees in Math and Secondary Education and Educational Leadership from Concordia University Chicago. She also received her superintendent endorsement in Educational Leadership from Abilene Christian University in Texas.

Khan, who currently resides in Chicago with her 11-year-old son Ausar, said she is looking forward to joining the Brooks team and Oak Park community.

“I consider it a great honor and privilege to be the new principal for Brooks Middle School,” said Khan. “I have always respected and admired Oak Park’s steadfast belief in the importance of education. It is this belief, as well as the desire to carry on the district’s proud tradition of academic excellence, that will guide my efforts and those of my team as we work together to meet the diverse and critical needs of our students.”

Parents/guardians and staff members were actively involved in the efforts to find the new principal for Brooks. Both groups helped develop a leadership profile that was used to screen applicants. They also selected the individuals (parents/guardians and staff members) who served on the school’s site team. This team interviewed a pool of candidates for the position and played a pivotal role in Khan’s selection.

“I appreciate the tremendous amount of time and energy that the members of the Brooks community invested in the completion of the search process,” said Roberts. “Their participation was instrumental in filling the principal position with a highly skilled, dynamic individual who will serve the best interest of kids.”

Khan’s contract is for one year with a base salary of $131,950.