Prince of Peace Names New Principal
Prince of Peace Catholic School, a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon school, announces that it has hired Brenda Baldassano as its principal.
Baldassano has been in education for the past 17 years, serving as an administrator, Catholic school teacher and Catechist, and this will be her sixth years as an administrator. She comes to Prince of Peace from St. Mary Catholic School in Woodstock, where she was the principal for the past two years. Before that, she held administrator and teaching positions at various schools, and taught locally at St. Bede Catholic School in Ingleside.
Baldassano received her teaching degree in Elementary Education at Northwestern and her doctoral at Northern Illinois University, which is known as the #4 program in the country for school administration and superintendent programs. Additionally, she has Masters degrees in El. Ed., English and Educational Administration, as well as an Ed.S. (superintendent) and recently completed her Ed.D. Baldassano has experience teaching Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade; however, her focus was middle school science and religion.
During her time at St. Mary, she was instrumental in the school's Centennial celebration and increased enrollment by 30 percent when other Catholic schools in that area were falling 10 percent annually. Baldassano also implemented Danielson evaluation as well as a Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) program.
"As Prince of Peace Catholic School's newest principal, I'm looking forward to continuing the strong programming for which the school is already known while growing it to the next level," said Baldassano. "I'm also excited to get to know the students and the families of Prince of Peace. My four children will attend the school in the fall, which makes the success of the school both professional and personal for me."
She added, "School has always been my favorite place to be since I was a kid. It's home to me. I love kids and I love school. I'm blessed that my ministry allows me to do with I love."
A Cubs fan and a Northwestern Wildcat, Baldassano and her family live locally. She replaces Bonnie Brown, who retired after eight years at Prince of Peace Catholic School.
Prince of Peace Catholic School is accepting registrations for 3-year-old Preschool through Eighth Grade. If your family is interested in finding out more about the Blue Ribbon school's award-winning curriculum and faith-based learning, or if you'd like to schedule a tour of the school and Parish Life Center that provides students with arts, technology and physical education, visit http://school.princeofpeacelv.org/ or call 847-356-6111.
Community is an important aspect of Prince of Peace, and the school welcomes community members to join us as we celebrate our 60th school anniversary the weekend of September 15-16, which will include a special blessing from Cardinal Blase Cupich.