The Children’s School is under new leadership.
Michelle Candelaria-Dunstan has been announced as the new head of school following a national search.
Candelaria-Dunstan will be the first person to hold the newly added position for TCS.
She began her new role April 9.
Candelaria-Dunstan comes to TCS from Boise, Idaho, where she was the Education Director at Anser Charter School. At the school, she advocated for legislative changes to increase diversity in charter schools and has led other schools with an “inclusion-based” mission, along with having experience teaching various grade levels.
Candelaria-Dunstan holds a master’s degree in educational leadership, as well as a bachelor’s of arts in elementary education from Boise State University.
Interim Director of Curriculum and Instruction Gloria Mitchell said Candelaria-Dunstan is coming to TCS at a “pivotal time” in the school’s history.
“We are excited to bring fresh energy and ideas to our already rich program of project-based learning and democratic education,” Mitchell said.
Candelaria-Dunstan joins TCS in hopes of continuing to provide exceptional educational experiences.
“I am dedicated to upholding our school’s mission of providing a supportive and inclusive environment where every child can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally,” Candelaria-Dunstan said in the statement. “I am confident that together with our excellent faculty and dedicated board, we will continue to create a warm, welcoming, and dynamic learning community where every child feels valued, challenged, and empowered to succeed.”
In a statement provided by TCS, Mitchell also said the school is in the process of hiring additional staff members and undergoing a “restructuring” of administration to “better meet the needs” of students and school families.
According to Tracy Litsey, communications consultant at TCS, the longtime director of administration, Pamela Freese recently retired from her position. She had been at TCS for 16 years.
Alyssa Stark, president of the board of directors at TCS, said the new head of school position will be replacing the director of administration position.
“The school is transitioning its leadership structure away from a previous two-director model with the hiring of a Head of School,” Litsey said.
For years, TCS has operated with a director of curriculum and instruction, as well as a director of administration.
According to Litsey, Christina Martin, the director of curriculum and instruction, who has been with TCS since it was founded in 2004, will also be leaving.
Both directors announced their intentions to leave the school in the fall of 2023, Litsey said.
The plan to restructure TCS has been long-time coming, said Litsey. Conversations began several years ago and planned for at least two years.
“The need for change has been driven by the growth and expansion of our school,” Litsey said. “We started as just a small K-2 school, grew quickly to a K-5 school, and then added a middle school.”
The two previous directors, Freese and Martin, had privately considered retirement several years ago, said Litsey, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed those plans as they “agreed to stay on to help the school navigate through the demands of COVID and shortly afterward, an impending move,” Litsey said.
“We are grateful for their incredible service but always understood that once we had settled in our new building, they would be moving on.”
Mitchell, a veteran middle school teacher, was named interim director of curriculum.
“In regards to other leadership positions, the board and faculty together with the new Head of School, will be considering whether to add additional directors to the school’s leadership team,” Litsey said.
During 2023, TCS relocated, moving into a portion of First Baptist Church of Oak Park, on Ontario Street near Scoville Park. The move followed months of uncertainty after their lease at St. Edmund was not renewed as a result of the physical condition of the building.
TCS shares portions of the space with First Baptist Preschool.
According to Mitchell, the school is in the process of renovating an additional floor in their new location.
In 2023, TCS also found itself in litigation with a family whose six-year-old student was expelled from the private school. The child’s mother, Kwijona Calvin, a resident of the West Side of Chicago, was named as the plaintiff in the lawsuit documents, which claimed the school practiced racial and disability discrimination against the student.
The lawsuit is still in litigation and Horvat Law of Chicago, who is representing Calvin, would not comment on the case.
Litsey said the lawsuit did not have any affect or cause the structure changes at TCS.
