Associate, assistant principals named at Larkin High

Two more spots vacated by January's administrative housecleaning at Larkin High School have been filled, Elgin Area School District U-46 officials announced Tuesday.

Darlea Livengood and Randal Ellison were named associate and assistant principal of the west Elgin school.

Livengood currently serves as principal of Liberty High School in Madera, Calif., a position she has held since 2007.

Jon Tuin, recently named Larkin's new principal, called Livengood a "tremendous asset."

"She understands high school and has experience building productive teams which have accomplished impressive outcomes," he said.

Livengood was associate principal of 2,700-student Golden Valley High in Merced, Calif. from 2002 to 2007. Before that, she taught high school science.

She earned a bachelor's from Oklahoma Panhandle State University and a master's degree from California State University at Stanislaus.

Ellison has served as principal at C.F. Simmons Middle School in Aurora from 2003 to 2006 and assistant principal of Edison Middle School in Wheaton. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wheaton College, and a master's degree from Aurora University.

Tuin has spent the past several weeks interviewing candidates for these positions, along with those for ten department head posts.

In January, Superintendent Jose Torres informed current principal Richard Webb, along with a dozen Larkin administrators, that they would be let go from their positions at the end of the school year.

In a February interview with the Daily Herald, Torres said the cuts were meant to speed a "culture change" at the school.

"High schools are complex places; they're difficult places to move," he said. "If you don't even have your own leaders with you, it makes it impossible." Several more appointments are expected in the coming weeks.