Metea staff taking shape

With the "hard part" behind him, new Metea Valley Principal Jim Schmid is eager to get the roof on and get settled into his new digs.

After a series of meetings with Indian Prairie Unit District 204 administrators and 200 interviews to fill about 90 posts at the fledgling high school that opens next fall along Eola Road in Aurora, Schmid finalized his staffing roster days before Christmas.

According to that roster, the former Waubonsie Valley principal will bring 44 teachers and department chairs with him from that high school. He also has hired 33 Neuqua Valley teachers and a total of five from Georgetown Elementary School, the Indian Plains High School program, and Hill, Crone and Granger middle schools - all in District 204.

"There was a significant amount of discussion between the principals and, as I expected, it was a collaborative and challenging process," Schmid said. "But now that the list has been posted, I feel very good about all of the departments. We've got a great blend of youthful enthusiasm and strong, experienced staff members."

Of the 200 applicants, Schmid said, several sought the opportunity to fill newly created coaching or sponsorship positions while others simply wanted "a change, something to shake things up a bit."

Others who declined interest in moving cited reasons such as established friendships and professional relationships that they had cultivated in their current schools.

"Thankfully we didn't get into that uncomfortable situation of having to forcibly move people," Schmid said. "Basically you want people to want to go and we got that, so it's all working out so far."

Schmid himself had a hard time leaving Waubonsie when he was pegged for the Metea job. He began his teaching career at Waubonsie in 1977. He left the school a year later and returned in 1992 as dean of students. He then served as the school's guidance counselor, director of guidance and assistant principal before being named principal in 2004.

The staffing is now complete, he said, save for courses that may need additional teachers, but those decisions likely won't be made until students make their course selections in March.

"We hired at the base level knowing we may need to add a few folks here or there," he said. "But right now we're good."

The next challenge will be to get all of those bodies and personalities under the new roof at the intersection of Eola and Molitor roads and find a way to mesh them. The new team will meet with Schmid for the first time on Jan. 16 to sort some of that out.

"We'll have some fun, but I also expect we'll get a decent amount of work done," he said. "We'll start by learning a little about everyone and try to take what we believe to be best pieces of information from that session. But we need to realize we can't do everything (at once)."

Having all but one of the new hires come from inside the district - which serves parts of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield - will be an advantage because most of the buildings operate similarly.

"Districtwide we believe in kids first and collaboration second with a focus on good instruction," Schmid said. "So we're all going into this new adventure already knowing that student achievement will be at the heart of what we do."

As for the building itself, Schmid and project manager Todd DePaul are confident it will be ready for freshmen and sophomores in August.

The freshman and sophomore wings are attached and work is continuing on the library, cafeteria and art center.

Recent flooding caused by melting snow and ice also served as an early test for the new sewage system. Schmid said it "passed the test and worked well," keeping the structure's interior mostly dry.

"If everything works that great moving forward, we'll be in great shape," he said. "I'm excited. I truly am."

Metea Valley roster

Of the 83 recently appointed staff members at Indian Prairie Unit District 204's newest high school, 44 come from Waubonsie Valley, 33 from Neuqua Valley and one each from Georgetown Elementary School; Hill, Crone and Granger middle schools; the Indian Plains High School program and St. Charles East High School.

Applied Tech

Pat Feulner and Jeff Schey

Art

Kathryn Parenti and Karen Popovich

Bilingual/ELL

Vicki Green and Sue Povilonis

Business

Jill Hlavacek and Lacy Bugielski

Dean

Marchel Rogers and Jennifer Rowe

English

Diane Tancredi, Joy Braun and Ryan Doherty

Theater

Adam Page, Lenny DePasquale, Jason Fontanetta, Matt Grigas and Mark Simon

FACS

Kathy Anderson and Allison Miralgio

Foreign Language

Tammie Black, Joan Lu, Marta Hall, Brandi Bane, Heather Hankes and Deb Adams

Guidance/Social Work

Darcy Hutzler, Jim Braun, Mark Jager, Amanda Pyzik, Bob Vozza, Kevin Wynard and Lara Polavieja

LMC

Debbie Turner

Math

Jackie Palmquist, Kris Kalivas, Jill Saphir, Ryan Hall, Sue Ellen Vozza, Chris Rohde, Jen Willig and Jen Howe

Music

Don Devany, Nathan Bramstedt and Mark Liu

PE/DE/Health

Michelle Schmidt, Craig Tomczak, Claudio Torres, Ashley Abruscato, Meredith Bemben, Georgia Salerno, Carla Griffin, Jim Short and Ted Monken

Psychologist

Janine Keca

Reading

Samoane Jones and Ann Cluxton

Science

Matt Kirkpatrick, Melissa Turner, Susan Philos, Bobby Smith, John Aister, Jeff Schmela, Mike Wegrzyn and Kate Carnevale

Social Studies

Don Pankuch, Josh Robinson, Scott Gregory, Vanesa Ocasio, Aaron Lewis, Ruben Rodriguez and Dave Luedtke

Special Education

Maura Anderson, Ida Felix, Matt Walpole, Angela Williams, Starr Perdue, Erin Swanson, Jenny Frelander, Jim Ferguson, Julie LaScala, Lauren Pavilon and Emily Moran

Administration

Jim Schmid, principal

Joy Ross, assistant principal

Edsel Clark, assistant principal

Tom Schweer, athletic director