Valley View Principal to Retire After 18 Years with School District

Submitted by Valley View School District 365U

Kim Mulcahy plans on relaxing this summer for the first time in many years.

But before the Independence Elementary School Principal retires on June 29 after 18 years with Valley View School District 365U, she had some excellent advice for young teachers.

“Don’t get discouraged,” the veteran educator said. “It will be more challenging than you might have expected, but it is the best profession there is.”

In looking back on her career, which began as a special education teacher at Bolingbrook High School two decades ago, Mulcahy praised the many “good people” she has worked with at BHS, Humphrey Middle School, R.C. Hill Elementary School and Independence.

“The staff at Independence truly is a great example of the people who work in our district because they care about kids,” she said. “They come to work every day and work their hardest to accomplish their personal goals and the goals that are set for them.”

The key to success, Mulcahy said, is to treat parents as partners because everyone has the same goal…student success. She firmly believes the best way to meet that goal is to expect big things out of every student.

“They will surprise you and meet those expectations,” she said. “Many will exceed them.”

While Mulcahy admits she’ll miss coming to school every day, she’s looking forward to catching up on her reading.

“I’m going to take some time to read what I want to read,” she said. “I’ll have a lot more time to read for pleasure than I have now.”

She also plans on spending more time with her husband, Jerry, her married daughter, Kate, a Romeoville High School graduate, and her recently engaged daughter, Erin, a Bolingbrook High School graduate, as well as her two grandchildren. Plus a little summertime travel to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is on her wish list.

Any plans for the fall and beyond? Not really.

“I’m just going to take the summer off and decide where I’m going after that,” she said.

Two things are for certain. She’ll remain a Bolingbrook resident. And she’s already booked to make an appearance at next year’s Independence Family Reading Night and the Book Fair.