The Kane County Juvenile Justice Center in St. Charles is getting a new principal.
Marisa Christoffel, most recently the assistant principal at Smith Elementary School in West Aurora School District 129, is taking over the role at the Juvenile Justice Center starting Sept. 8, according to a news release from the Kane County Regional Office of Education.
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Christoffel is succeeding Ivars Spalis, who is retiring, per the news release. Spalis has been principal since 2014.
Most recently, Christoffel was assistant principal at Smith Elementary in West Aurora School District 129, the release noted. She has also previously worked at Chesterbrook Academy in Bartlett, Rotolo Middle School in Batavia Public School District 101 and Pope St. John Paul II Catholic Academy in Aurora, per the release.
As principal and education program coordinator, Christoffel will work with recently-appointed Kane County Regional Superintendent John Jonak, who oversees the education program at the Juvenile Justice Center, the release said.
The Kane County Regional Office of Education serves over 100,000 students, officials with the office have previously said, across nine school districts in the county: U-46, Batavia 101, West Aurora 129, East Aurora 131, District 300, Central 301, Kaneland 302, St. Charles 303 and Geneva 304. The office works with other organizations to oversee education at the justice center, according to past reporting.
Jonak said in the release that its work with the justice center is meant to help “continue education for school-aged children regardless of their circumstance.”
The justice center’s education program is run through an agreement between St. Charles School District 303 and Kane County’s chief judge, according to the news release. Teachers provide daily, year-round instruction in language arts, math, science and social studies, with the goal of helping students living in juvenile detention ultimately transition back into their public school programs successfully.
The principal is the education program’s administrator, the release noted, and is responsible for communicating with students’ public schools to help with transfers.
“I am excited and humbled to be an advocate for education in my new role,” Christoffel said in the news release. “I am looking forward to collaborating with staff, celebrating student diversity and nurturing an environment of equity for the center’s community.”