A Message from the Superintendent

Dear Families, Staff, and Community Members,

We hope you had a wonderful weekend. We wanted to provide you with an update regarding our Administrative Team. Following two successful administrative searches, we are pleased to announce that at the Tuesday, March 19 Board meeting, Ms. Ivory Ajavon will be the recommended candidate for Hubbard Woods School Principal, and Mr. Steven Wilt will be the recommended candidate for the Chief School Business Official (CSBO). Upon Board approval, both Ms. Ajavon and Mr. Wilt will begin in their respective positions on July 1, 2024. Our administrative team will work with both new administrators over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition into their roles.

Ms. Ajavon rose to the top given her stellar leadership experience and history of fostering academic excellence. She has demonstrated experience in leading large-scale curricular shifts and implementing successful professional learning for staff. Ms. Ajavon is currently the Assistant Principal at Marvin Camras Children’s Engineering School, serving PreK-8 students in Chicago, where she has been a building leader since 2014. Ms. Ajavon began her career teaching in a K-5 elementary building. Her exemplary curriculum implementation experience and keen understanding of best practices in instruction will be an asset to the Hubbard Woods School community. Ms. Ajavon has a Master of Education, School Leadership, from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, a Master of Education in Early Childhood Education Mathematics from Georgia State University, a Master of Music from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a Bachelor of Music from Illinois State University. She is a recipient of the Crystal Apple Award in Teaching.

Mr. Wilt was the top choice for the CSBO position due to his 35 years of leadership experience within both the fields of business and education. Since 2017, he has served as the CSBO in Wood Dale School District #7, managing a $20M annual budget. In addition to years honing his expertise both as a CSBO and in the corporate sector, he spent over a decade as a high school Chemistry and Physics teacher. Mr. Wilt has an MBA in Finance/Marketing from Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Wabash College. Mr. Wilt earned his CSBO Credentials from Northern Illinois University and Teaching Credentials from SIU-Edwardsville, where he was named “Outstanding Future Chemistry Teacher.”

We appreciate the efforts of all who were involved in this selection process. We will keep our school community apprised of opportunities to meet both new members of our Administrative team and look forward to the many ways Ms. Ajavon and Mr. Wilt’s leadership will enrich our district’s impact on the student experience.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kelly Tess

Superintendent

Mr. Jeff Knapp

Assistant Superintendent