Changes coming in administration at Glenbrook schools

Jason Markey will be the new guy at Glenbrook North, and that's one of the things that attracted the new principal to the school.

In talking with Glenbrook North faculty and staff, he noted many of them

"I've really been struck not only by the length of tenure that many of them have," Markey said. "They've been there for their whole careers or they made one move early and they stayed there. But also just their deep connections to the community."

Markey is coming from East Leyden, and he's noted the similarities in the two schools. They are close in size with sizable athletic, arts, activities and academic programs.

"It's a little difficult for me to distinguish between the two so far," he said, "but I'm sure I'll kind of understand how Glenbrook North is unique as I fulfill the role."

Markey won't rush to make changes at Glenbrook North. Just the opposite, he said.

"I'm certainly not coming in with some sort of preset agenda so I don't have a checklist of things that I need to make happen right away," he said. "What I need to do is listen and learn and truly understand what all of the different stakeholders need from me as principal and how I can best serve them and then be responsive to those needs and certainly communicate with clarity and integrity and make sure that I'm there to listen, learn and then figure out what we need to do as a school to continue to build upon the great foundation that we have."

Markey isn't the only new administrator starting at Glenbrook South this summer. Lauren Bonner is leaving Loyola Academy to become the new associate principal of administrative services. It was a move that didn't come easily, but one she couldn't resist.

"Every once in a while a position in a school opens and you think, man, I could really see myself doing that," Bonner said. "And it doesn't happen very often, especially because my time here at Loyola has been so valued and treasured.

"I think it's a wonderful place to be. But when this position opened I knew I just had to go for it. I had to see if the opportunity would blossom into my next career move, and it just so happened to play out that way."

Bonner will need to be organized. She will work with the athletic director, assistant principal of deans, assistant principal of student activities as well as the facilities department.

"Northbrook's an incredible community and they do great things already," she said. "So I'm looking to just continue that good work and enhance it where I can and use my own skills to support the incredible programming that already exists and provide any sort of refinements that I can moving forward."

Bonner and Markey already have begun working together.

"There's great camaraderie there already," Bonner said. "The ideas are just flowing between us. I think we both are just very excited to work with the staff that's already there and support them in any way we can."

Glenbrook South also will welcome a new administrator.

Mark Maranto will be the assistant principal for student activities, leaving his position as the Fine Arts Department chairman. He will oversee all extracurriculars except athletics. That includes the nearly 100 clubs and activities, plus performance groups.

"It's a big job," Maranto said. "Luckily I've been at South for 15 years so I have a lot of history with folks in the building."

That history will help Maranto get started, especially if the school is not open for in-person classes.