The Oct. 27 board meeting covered a variety of topics including National Principals Month, congratulating the new leader of the Transportation Department, discussing upcoming goals for each Kaneland school and providing updates for the 2026-27 school year.
Much of the meeting’s purpose was based on congratulating and celebrating staff members. Superintendent Dr. Kurt Rohlwing began the meeting on a high note, congratulating Kaneland alumni and former Administrative Assistant of the Transportation Department Davis Espe on his new position as the leader of the Transportation Department.
“Being a Kaneland alumni and coming back as a staff member is something really important,” Espe said. “Kaneland is such a great district to be a part of, and a great place to work. I look forward to being here and continuing to serve in my new role.”
After the applause for Espe, the focus turned onto the two new principals at McDole and John Shields Elementary Schools, Brian White and Lea Russelle, respectively. Rohlwing applauded them for the hard work they have demonstrated this year as well their positive impact. He believes they are a great addition to the Kaneland district.
“The feeling you get when you answer the phone and you know someone’s going to answer is great,” Russelle said. “I started in August, which I had already started at my other district, and I thought the transition (to Kaneland) would be wonky, but it was absolutely seamless.”
In addition to Russelle and White, Rohlwing highlighted the other principals at Kaneland. This includes Courtney Ward from Blackberry Creek Elementary School, Samantha Aversa from John Stewart Elementary School, Brian Faulkner from Harter Middle School and Melinda Cattell from the high school. After their recognition, each principal shared their school’s internal goals for the end of the 2025-26 school year.
White presented that McDole’s goals will primarily be focused on math. One of his goals is for 59% of first- through fifth-grade students to meet or exceed their typical growth goal on the spring i-Ready math diagnostic. His other goal for the end of the 2025-26 school year is for 53% of students in third through fifth grade to achieve proficiency in the mathematics component of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) test. His last goal is for 62% of students identified as Children With Disabilities (CWD) to achieve proficiency in the mathematics component of the IAR test.
Aversa’s goal for John Stewart is to demonstrate an increase in the percentage of students performing at or above grade level in written responses to non-fiction passages by at least 20 percentage points, moving from 20% to 40% by the end of February of 2026. Aversa said that this growth will reflect students’ deeper understanding of feedback’s role in their learning and their active participation in co-constructing.
Ward presented that Blackberry Creek’s goal is, by February of 2026, to increase proficiency for K-5 students, identified through the i-ready math diagnostic. She hopes to move 25% of those performing one grade level below up to grade level, and 25% of those performing two or more grade levels below to only one grade level below. Ward also announced that Blackberry Creek aims to reduce behavior referrals for classroom disruptions and insubordination by 35%. As a mid-year goal, Ward hopes to achieve a 25% reduction of behavior referrals or classroom disruptions by February.
“In the last couple of years, we have seen an increase in classroom disruptions,” Ward said. “If you think about it in the capacity that it takes one minute for the teacher to address the 23 kids in a room times how many days are in a school year, that time adds up.”
Russelle announced that one of John Shields’s goals will be for the percentage of K-5 students scoring at or above grade-level reading expectations to increase by at least 33% of the total growth possible for each grade level.
Faulkner’s goal for Harter is for 53% of students to meet their projected target growth in i-Ready in the area of reading and 60% of students in the area of math.
Cattell’s goal for the high school is that the percentage of freshmen on track to graduate will move from 90% to 94% by improving attendance, academic achievement and engagement.
All of the principals’ goals were with the heart of students in mind, while also trying to improve Kaneland and help all students be college, career and community ready.
Finally, Rohlwing shared that the first day of school for 2026-27 will be Aug. 12 for students, and staff will return on Aug. 10.
This brought some contention with the early start date, but Rohlwing said, “The next two years’ calendars are largely driven by construction.”
The next board meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 17 at Harter Middle School at 7 p.m.
