Principal's first love was special education
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Julie Hayes was the first principal of Gavin Central Elementary School in Ingleside when the new building opened in 1996.
Coming with her background as a school psychologist, she worked well with students and faculty alike.
"She was a real people person," says her secretary, Sue Urbanski. "Her door was always open."
Dr. Hayes loved Halloween, Urbanski added, and every year she selected a theme for the front office staff. Their favorite was the year she selected the "Wizard of Oz" as their theme, and Dr. Hayes dressed up as Dorothy.
"She had such a big heart that the kids just flocked to her," Urbanski said. "She was a role model and mentor to all of the teachers."
School officials now are mourning her loss. Dr. Hayes passed away Monday. The former Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect resident, most recently of Twin Lakes, Wis., was 63.
While she was principal, Dr. Hayes also led the special education department, directly overseeing all the teachers and aides working with children who had special needs.
That role reflected her background of having worked as a school psychologist with the Special Education District of Lake County before teaching in Gavin Elementary District 37.
After Dr. Hayes' retirement in 2004 from Gavin Central, she returned to SEDOL to head up the psychology department, supervising all of the school psychologists in the district.
"She loved being a teacher and a principal," says her daughter, Jennifer Daniels of Lake Forest, "but her heart was always in special education."
As a school psychologist, Dr. Hayes worked mostly in testing children for learning disabilities, to help determine if they might benefit from special education resources.
"That was what she loved to do, to give them the tools to succeed," says her husband, Carl. "She wanted to right the ship and put children back on the path to learning."
Family members say Dr. Hayes came about her interest in teaching and lifelong learning when she was young.
Her father, Robert Zadek of Berwyn, had been a Chicago police officer who attended law school at night before working in the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Her mother, the late Marie Zadek, attended Chicago Teacher's College while Dr. Hayes was in high school and eventually earned certification as a master teacher in the Chicago Public School system. That prompted her daughter to follow her lead.
Dr. Hayes began her career teaching at Herzl Elementary School on Chicago's West Side. It was there she began studying for the first of three master's degrees, in education, reading and school psychology.
During her years as principal, Dr. Hayes earned her doctorate in education from Loyola University.
Besides her husband, daughter and father, Dr. Hayes is survived by three grandsons, Richard, Charlie and Michael Daniels, all of Lake Forest.
Visitation for Dr. Hayes takes place from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, before a 10 a.m. funeral Monday, both at Warren Funeral Home, 1475 N. Cemetery Road in Gurnee.