District 15 announces three new principals

Three schools in Palatine Elementary District 15 will start off next school year with new principals.

• Matthew J. Palcer will be the new principal of Pleasant Hill School in Palatine.

During the 2007-08 school year, Pleasant Hill has had interim principals.

After graduating from the University of Illinois-Champaign, Palcer joined District 15 as a seventh-grade special education program assistant at Sundling Junior High. The following year, he moved to Carl Sandburg, teaching history, English, and writing. Later he was seventh- and eighth-grade student advisor at Sandburg. He earned a master's degree in education administration from National-Louis University in 2004 and served both Jane Addams and Pleasant Hill as assistant principal in the 2005-06 school year.

For the past two years, he has been assistant principal at Jane Addams.

• David Morris will join District 15 as principal of Jane Addams School in Palatine.

He will succeed current principal Roland Johnson, who is retiring.

Morris is now principal of Newport Elementary School in Beach Park, a position he has held since 2005. He served as assistant principal of Newport Elementary School for the 2004-05 school year and previously taught physical education and music at Spring Wood Middle School, Hanover Park,

He holds a bachelor's degree in physical education with a social science endorsement from Illinois State University and a master's degree in educational leadership from Aurora University in 2004.

• Kerry A. Swalwell will become principal of Plum Grove Junior High School in Palatine,

She will succeed current principal Cheryl Quinn, who is retiring. Dr. Swalwell is presently site director for Project Reclaim in Township High School District 214 based in Arlington Heights.

She previously served seven years as principal of Fairview Elementary School in Mount Prospect District 57. Prior to that, she was an assistant principal for two schools in Community School District 300 in Carpentersville, and taught in elementary schools in Sleepy Hollow and Algonquin.

She holds a doctorate in educational leadership, certification of advanced study in educational leadership, superintendent's endorsement, master's of curriculum and instruction and bachelor of arts in elementary education, all from National-Louis University.

All of the new principals will start July 1.