La Grange School District 105 has chosen a woman with extensive experience leading area schools to be the next principal of Spring Avenue Elementary School in La Grange.
Amy Read, who currently is principal of Herrick Middle School in Downers Grove, will replace Brian Lawson as principal of Spring Avenue School July 1.
Read worked at Herrick less than two years, having been hired as principal there in July 2019, after five years as principal of Butler Junior High School in Oak Brook.
She also was the principal of Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst Unit District 205 from 2010 to 2014, and principal of Mead Junior High in Elk Grove Village for two years.
Lawson has accepted the position of assistant superintendent for curriculum in Manhattan School District 114, which is southeast of Joliet, Ill. He has been a principal for 10 years, he said, and looks forward to a new challenge.
Read said she was not looking for a new job, when someone called and encouraged her to apply for the Spring Avenue position.
“During the interview process, I was immediately drawn to their focus on innovative instruction and their focus on social emotional learning for kids,” Read said.
Read led Butler Junior High and Sandburg to National Blue Ribbon recognition in 2015 and 2013 respectively, and was a 2019 finalist for the distinguished Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Leadership.
As principal of Herrick, she led a middle school with about 660 students in two grades. Spring Avenue has about 300 children in kindergarten through sixth grade, Read said.
Having fewer students for a longer period “really allows you to forge relationships” with them, said Read, who has never worked in an elementary school before.
Read, who has been in education for 26 years, said she feels energized at the prospect of working with a new age group.
She plans to bring her dog Buster, who works as a therapy dog, to Spring Avenue as she has to other schools where she worked. But Buster, a golden retriever, will be in a lion’s costume, in honor of the Spring Avenue mascot, Read said.
Before becoming a principal, Read worked as dean of students at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.
School District 105 said the faculty, School Board and Spring Avenue parents participated in an extensive interview process prior to selecting Read to be the new principal.
Read, who has a master’s degree in educational leadership from Northeastern Illinois University, is known for her collaboration and communication with staff and parents, District 105 officials stated in an announcement of her hiring.
Read also has a master’s degree in teaching from Simmons College and a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering technology from Bradley University.