The East Aurora School District 131 Board of Education Tuesday introduced Dr. Jennifer Norrell as superintendent of schools at East Aurora High School.
Norrell, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, assessments, and grants for Bloom Township High School District 206 in Chicago Heights, will start in her new role July 1. The selection was the result of national search that produced 46 qualified applicants from diverse geographic and professional backgrounds.
“We are extremely happy with the outcome of this search process. Our board reached consensus that Dr. Norrell proved herself as the best fit for our District,” said Annette Johnson, president of the Board of Education. “Her leadership in helping districts increase student academic achievement is just one of many areas which demonstrate her capability to succeed in leading District 131.
In her role as assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, assessments and grants for Bloom Township High School District 206, Dr. Norrell led all district and State partnerships under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Waiver and ESSA, including activities for both Priority and Focus status schools, district wide. She served as the District’s Title 1 director and bilingual education director.
Over her 20 year career, Dr. Norrell has had experience teaching science at the middle school and high school levels, as well as serving as director of middle and secondary curriculum. She has led content based curriculum teams through vertical and horizontal alignment and articulation for grades K-12 science, 6-12 math, English, social studies and physical education.
From 2013 to 2014, Dr. Norrell served as district liaison of priority districts for the Illinois Center for School Improvement.
Dr. Norrell holds a bachelor of science degree (biology) from Hampton University in Virginia; a master of arts in education (secondary science education) from Saint Xavier University in Chicago; a doctorate in education (curriculum, instruction and educational psychology). Dr. Norrell earned her superintendent endorsement in 2017 from Loyola University in Chicago.
Dr. Norrell and her family currently reside in Chicago, and Dr. Norrell plans to also take residence in district beginning this summer.
The search for a new superintendent began in November of 2017 when the school board retained Hazard, Young, Attea, and Associates as the community input facilitator. For over a month the firm led with community engagement portion of the search, by hosting focus groups and facilitating on online survey for community input on the next superintendent.
Data from the community and staff input was used to develop the desired characteristics for the superintendent of schools.
In February, 2018, the school board retained Hazard, Young, Attea, and Associates for the search portion of the process.
A first round of interviews was conducted the week of April 2, with a second round of interviews with three finalists the week of May 7. The Board considered input from the community and staff members in selecting Dr. Norrell from a strong pool of candidates.
The district has been led for the past two years by two interim superintendents, and is currently led by Dr. Mark McDonald and Mr. Steve Megazzini.
— East Aurora School District 131