The current principal of Glenbrook South High School was unanimously selected by the district’s Board of Education in December as the new superintendent of Northbrook Glenview District 30, effective July 1.
Brian Wegley, a Glenview resident with 27 years experience in education, will succeed current District 30 Superintendent Edward Tivador, who plans to retire at the end of the current school year. Wegley has worked in administration for 15 years.
Wegley was choosen from 50 candidates who applied for the job, said District 30 Board of Education president Scott Margolin. A search firm hired by the district, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, narrowed the list down to five candidates. The finalists were interviewed in closed session and Wegley’s appointment was approved, pending a final contract, by the board at a special meeting on Dec. 18, Margolin said.
As principal of an award-winning high school, Wegley was an ideal candidate for the job, Margolin said.
“We wanted someone who knew what it meant to be successful, to take a high performing school to the next level,” he said.
As principal of Glenbrook South, Wegley also knew what it took to be a successful student in Glenbrook High Schools District 225, Margolin said. Most District 30 graduates will find themselves in one of District 225’s high schools, he said.
Wegley said his first priority when he takes over the district’s top post will be meeting with staff, students and parents.
“I think all the good things that happen in my time in District 30 will follow from developing real, authentic, caring relationships,” he said. “That is one of the things that draws me to the district.”
The outgoing superintendent, Tivador, is a Chicago resident who said he has spent a collective 14 years in the district.
The biggest challenge for any new superintendent in high performing schools like District 30’s will be to evolve and continue to improve upon the district’s success, Tivador said.
“It’s harder to try to take an organization that is already performing at a high level and make meaningful adjustments,” he said.
Still, Tivador said, now “is one of the best times ever to be in public education.”
The reason, Tivador said, is that a focus on academic rigor is now balanced with “a very close watch on social and emotional development.”
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“When I started (working in education) some 34 years ago, it was a great career and we focused a lot on getting information to children,” Tivador said. “Today, what is so wonderful, is we do that but we go beyond that and we are preparing kids to apply that information and make good decisions.”
The holistic approach to education that Tivador describes is exactly what impressed Wegley when his son attended school in District 30.
“I’ve found that they were a district that really valued the whole child and certainly were a district that had high expectations and prepared their students very well,” Wegley said.