Plainfield School Board Approves Four New Administrators

From Plainfield School District 202:

PLAINFIELD, IL — At Monday night's District 202 Board of Education meeting, the board approved hiring two new school principals, an assistant principal and a special education administrator. All four of the new officials were promoted internally from other, related posts in the district.

First, Ira Jones Middle School Assistant Principal Danielle Cournaya will replace Shannon Miller as principal of Heritage Grove Middle School starting next school year. Miller is moving on to become the new director for middle school administration and personnel next year.

Cournaya started her education career in 2004 teaching middle school math in St. Charles School District 303. She came to District 202 in 2006 to teach math at Aux Sable Middle School, then served as Aux Sable assistant principal from 2012-2015, when she moved her current role at Ira Jones.

“Ms. Cournaya’s wide variety of professional experiences, instructional leadership and ability to build positive relationships within the community will serve her well as the new Principal at Heritage Grove Middle School,” said Jennifer Orlos, director for middle school administration and personnel.

Cournaya said she is honored to be joining the Heritage Grove faculty. “I am looking forward to continuing the Huskie standard of excellence by building positive relationships and having high expectations for our learning community,” she said.

Second, the board also approved the current Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Interim Principal, Vicky Foster, as the school’s permanent principal.

Foster has worked her entire educational career in District 202, starting in 2001 as a student teacher. She taught fourth and fifth grades from 2002-2014 at Lakewood Falls Elementary School, then served as the school’s assistant principal for four years. In 2018 she was named assistant principal at Thomas Jefferson.

“Mrs. Foster has a wealth of experience as an elementary teacher and administrator,” said Dr. Scott Fink, director for elementary administration and personnel.

“Her hard work ethic and positive outlook will make her transition to Principal a smooth one for the Thomas Jefferson learning community,” he said.

“I am excited for the opportunity to serve as principal and I look forward to helping, motivating and supporting students to reach their full potential,” Foster said.

Next, the board approved naming interim Thomas Jefferson Elementary School's Assistant Principal, David Campbell, as the school’s permanent assistant principal.

Campbell also started his teacher career in District 202, as a teaching assistant in 2008. He has taught fifth grade at Eichelberger Elementary School the last 12 years.

Finally, the Board approved hiring District 202 Speech Language Pathologist Supervisor Julie Anderson as a new district-level special education administrator.

She will continue to fulfill her current responsibilities while also gaining experience as a building-level special education administrator at a school to be decided later.

Anderson has worked as the district speech language pathologist supervisor since 2018. She served as the speech language pathologist for Lakewood Falls and Liberty elementary schools and Plainfield Academy from 2009-2018.

Anderson also worked in the private sector for several years.