Popular Principal Leaving Most Holy Redeemer School

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Dan Turney announced Thursday in a letter to parents that this would be his last year as principal of Most Holy Redeemer School in Evergreen Park. He will be leaving at the end of the current school year.

“I have decided that this will be my last year as Principal at Most Holy Redeemer School. I will pursue other ventures within Educational Leadership. This decision has not come easy, as I have spent an incredible four years of my life here at 96th and Millard,” Turney told parents. “This decision has not come easy, as I have spent an incredible four years of my life here at 96th and Millard. However, this decision is in my best interest and that of my family.”

Turney was appointed principal of MHR in the fall of 2021, after a tumultuous year of e-learning due to the pandemic. MHR’s prior principal had left and interim principal Susan Duffy was holding down the fort. Turney helped to bring calm in the school, as schools struggled to climb out of the pandemic. Later that school year, in 2022, The Archdiocese of Chicago allowed Catholic schools to go “mask optional.”

In a 2022 interview with EP Podcast, Turney, who attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through college, called teaching in a Catholic school a vocation, as opposed to worked in a public school system that paid higher salaries.

“We have teachers and faculty and staff who understand that to teach in Catholic schools you have to go beyond books,” Turney said. “Staff understand that to teach in Catholic schools you have to go beyond books, you have to go beyond the classwork and extend to that thinking about kids and what’s best for them in their lives.

“It’s building relationships with parents in a really unique way. That’s not to say those things don’t happen at other schools, but my experience at Most Holy Redeemer is our teachers go above and beyond. They truly care about kids, they enjoy seeing them as they go forward.”

Turney will remain at MHR through June. He did not say if he had secured another position.

“Please know that I will remain fully committed to giving 100% effort for the remainder of this school year to ensure our students and teachers continue to excel,” he stated in his letter.