District 158 selects new chief academic officer

The Huntley School District 158 school board recently selected Erika Schlichter as the district's new chief academic officer.

Schlichter comes from Kaneland School District 302 where she serves as director of education services for grades six through 12. She replaces Mike Moan, who is leaving District 158 after 17 years to become superintendent of Woodstock Community Unit School District 200.

The District 302 school board earlier this week approved Schlichter's resignation effective June 30. Her first day with District 158 is July 1.

Schlichter's salary at District 158 will be $115,000 yearly, not including benefits.

Schlichter, 41, has been overseeing curriculum, assessments, test scores, instruction, and human resources for Kaneland the past six years.

"That job gave me a great opportunity to prepare for leading in curriculum instruction, teaching and learning," said Schlichter, adding she is looking forward to working in District 158, which has a track record of being "progressive and innovative."

"I'm very excited to have a chance to contribute in that leadership role," she said. "They've got some wonderful innovative initiatives underway. The first step is to really work with the teams that are there ... and assess what the needs are in the future."

Schlichter said District 158 has been a leader in technological initiatives, such as the district's tablet program, and has significantly increased participation rates for Advanced Placement courses at Huntley High School in recent years. "Building on that is going to be really key," she added.

Previously, Schlichter worked as assistant principal of Sycamore High School in District 427 in DeKalb County. She taught history there and at East Aurora High School in District 131 for nine years. She has been an educator for 17 years.

Schlichter said changes in the state's standardized assessment system and the adoption of Next Generation Science Standards will present challenges for districts with student learning and instruction.

"Similar to the Common Core, what they are doing is they are bringing students deeper into science," she said, adding previous standards covered a lot of ground but didn't go in-depth enough.

"The Next Generation Science Standards really bring the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are needed," she said.

District 158 includes Huntley, portions of Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Union and Lakewood.