Two principals among retirees at Geneva schools
Two principals and an assistant superintendent will retire from the Geneva school district at the end of the school year.
The retirements of Harrison Street Elementary School Principal Deedee Slagle, Mill Creek Elementary School Principal Thomas Watrobka and Jane Gazdziak, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, were announced Tuesday.
Monday night, the school board picked Gazdziak's replacement, promoting curriculum director Patty O'Neil.
Gazdziak, 55, of Geneva, has worked for the district for 14 years, starting as its first technology coordinator.
Slagle, 55, of Batavia, has been principal of Harrison Street for eight years.
Watrobka became principal of Western Avenue Elementary School in 1985, stayed there 11 years, then opened Mill Creek Elementary School. After six years, he opened another school, Heartland Elementary, where the 57-year-old St. Charles resident has spent the past five years.
"There were wonderful traditions at Harrison Street," Slagle said, noting it has a history of longstanding principals.
Elementary school is "the only place where little kids wave at you every time they see you," she said.
There will be perks to retirement, though. Slagle joked she'll be able to stay out late on a school night, and won't be "standing on a playground at 7:30 in the morning." She started her school career as a physical education teacher for high school and middle school.
"I had a kind of chance to watch this district expand to the west," Watrobka said. He came to Geneva from central Illinois, having started as a health teacher and sports coach.
Gazdziak, who started as a science teacher, called herself "corny" for feeling like "I have 6,000 children I care about."
Slagle and Watrobka were both honored as Kane County Educators of the Year by the Regional Office of Education.
The district has advertised the openings for the principal jobs, and expects to hire replacements in late February or early March. The search to replace O'Neil will begin in December.