Photo: The School Board welcomes Dr. Hagerman

Click here to watch the vote and hear Dr. Hagerman's remarks: http://web.winnetka36.org/schoolboard/meetings/Podcast/Podcast.html

The Winnetka School Board is pleased to announce that Dr. Thomas Hagerman has unanimously been selected to be the next Superintendent of The Winnetka Public Schools, assuming his new responsibilities on July 1, 2011.

Dr. Hagerman has a distinguished career in education and currently serves as the Superintendent in River Forest, IL District 90, another high-achieving K-8 district enrolling 1,350 students. Prior to joining District 90 three years ago, Dr. Hagerman served as the Superintendent of the K-12 Riverdale School District in Portland, Oregon for four years and as a middle school vice principal and principal in Beaverton, Oregon. He started his career as a teacher in the Portland Public Schools.

Dr. Hagerman's experience with and enthusiasm for progressive education principles make the Winnetka schools a natural fit for him:

"In researching Winnetka, I learned that the District's vision is not simply words on a page, but rather a dynamic and real approach to educating its children. It is one that I whole-heartedly support, and, in fact many of the tenets of progressive education - academic challenge, creative and independent thinking, lifelong learning—have guided my work over the past many years as a teacher and school leader."

The School Board is grateful to the hundreds of community and staff members who participated in the search process; your input was instrumental in the selection of Dr. Hagerman. We also thank our search consultants from BWP: Drs. Debra Hill, Margaret Longo, and Anne Noland who delivered a terrific array of candidates. We greatly appreciate the leadership of our co-interim superintendents, Drs. Cull and Friedman, knowing that children, staff, and community feel their positive impact on District 36 during their short time at the helm.

There will be several opportunities for community members to meet Dr. Hagerman this spring in an informal setting. Details will be posted as soon as they are available.