Fremd associate principal picked to lead Conant High

Fremd High School Associate Principal Michael Smith will become principal of Conant High School in Hoffman Estates on July 1.

He will replace Julie Nowak, who is retiring at the end of the current school year.

Smith will have been associate principal at Fremd in Palatine for two years by the time of his promotion. He joined Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 in 2020 as a 10-month assistant principal at Palatine High School.

He was promoted to a 12-month lead interventionist position at Fremd in 2022 before moving into his current role two years later, district officials said.

Smith began his career as an English teacher at East Peoria Community High School in 2005. A year later he took a similar role at Hinsdale Central High School.

Smith moved on to Hinsdale South High School where he served as assistant chair of the English department from 2016 to 2017 and then dean from 2017 to 2020.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Bradley University. In 2011, Smith earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Concordia University.

Nowak became principal of Conant in 2014 after having been the district’s director of special education for six years and assistant director for a year before that. She was the special education department chair at Palatine High School from 2001-2007 and special education teacher at Hoffman Estates High School from 1994-2001.

In 2001, Nowak received a Those Who Excel award from the Illinois State Board of Education.