Janice Pavelonis has been on the job as new superintendent of River Forest School District 90 for two months. It’s been a whirlwind, and she’s a long way from her prior position as superintendent of Carbondale Elementary District 95.
But moving five hours due north for a new job in the Chicago suburbs has been all about the work, she told Wednesday Journal in a recent sit-down discussion in her new office, formerly occupied by Dr. Edward Condon, who’s now retired.
Pavelonis is well regarded already.
“Supt. Janice Pavelonis’ collaborative style and deep experience are already making a positive impact in our school community,” said Katie Avalos, school board president.
Pavelonis covered plenty of ground in a roughly 20-minute interview, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Q. You’ve joined District 90 from Carbondale Elementary District 95. Tough decision to leave that part of the state to come here?
A. It was a tough decision. You know, I have friends and family in southern Illinois, but the decision to come here was about the actual work, and the pride that I’ve had in my career of the work. I spent eight years in Carbondale as a leader and led a lot of different transformation in that time, building systems in the work and culture across the school district. And so coming here to this area was really about the job here in River Forest, and how special it is here, and how it aligned to my professional goals and my leadership style.
Q. What were the main lessons you learned as superintendent in Carbondale that you are applying here?
A. Leading a school district is a lot about systems and how we do business, everyday functions. So systems work really is the foundation of a high-performing, good, solid school district. And so here, one of the things to make sure (is we) include all voices, a collaborative type of leadership. That’s something that has been part of me as a leader for years, and always, even as a classroom teacher, building a family within my classroom. So, to me, systems work is the biggest part of the work I do.
Q. In January, you were able to address the D90 board, which was going through a tough contract negotiation with the River Forest Education Association at the time. How did you approach those remarks?
A. I wasn’t nervous as much as I was curious about what was going on. And I really approached my own remarks in a way of sort of thinking about the beginning of school and thinking about the next layer. So really just grateful to be there and excited about taking on the responsibility of superintendent and I think in the words that I spoke, my mindset at the time was really about, Let’s jump ahead to a future that isn’t this, to speak to that and provide a little bit of hope and sort of think about it next chapter.
Q. Katie Avalos said you stood out as a candidate by way of your ability to work collaboratively in relationship building. Can you expand on that?
A. As I mentioned, a collaborative approach to leading or teaching has always been a part of who I am. It’s always been important to me to find a position or whatever my next step is in my career that’s a good fit for who I am. What that looks like is even just in the way we facilitate meetings, making sure that the makeup of committees and teams is throughout our stakeholder groups, so that all voices are at the table, and that decision making is about everyone. It’s not just about my vision. We’re working literally together at the table to make decisions, especially big decisions.
Q. D90 is a high-performing district, with two schools, Lincoln and Willard, noted as exemplary by the state. How do you keep that momentum going forward district wide?
A. Coming into the district, it’s been important to me to understand deeply what is working so well. What have been those systems, those bodies of work that has led us to high performance? And we know that some of those things are partnerships with families. We have a lot of family involvement, and our students are showing up to school ready to learn. We’ve got a highly trained staff who know our Illinois learning standards. They know how to teach. They are doing well. And so there’s a lot of things going really well that got us there. That’s already very clear to me. But really, how do I approach it is making sure that the things that are already going well, that we sustain and grow that.