District U-46 says goodbye to assistant superintendent

Elgin Area School District U-46 said goodbye this week to Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Greg Walker.

Barbara Johnson will move into the position and Ushma Shah will take Johnson's position as Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education.

Walker held the job for the past three years. He will start his new job as regional vice president for the College Board's Midwest regional office July 16. Walker said he will be working to connect students to college success at all levels of education. The College Board, based in New York, administers standardized tests such as the SAT and PSAT.

“He did an incredible job here at U-46,” U-46 Chief of Staff Tony Sanders said.

Sanders said Walker helped to lower the dropout rates in U-46's high schools and increase the number of students taking advanced placement classes and improve the AP test scores.

Walker said his success came with a lot of help. “We've had a great group of people working together,” he said.

He said the improvements came from the support and confidence of Superintendent Jose Torres and his ability to see the areas of need.

Before coming to U-46, Walker worked with the College Board as a national manager. He and his team worked to implement more pre-advanced placement curriculums in schools to prepare younger students for advanced classes.

“I think all the effort together in U-46 and my other experiences collectively have prepared me to have a wider view of education,” he said.

Sanders said Johnson is very qualified to fill Walker's position. Her background is focused more on high school education and district leaders felt secondary education was a better fit for her than elementary.

Shah served as U-46's Chief of Equity and Social Justice last year. She already has a relationship with a Hillcrest and Century Oaks elementary schools where she created school-specific initiatives.