West searching for new high school principal
By Jenette Sturges and Matt Brennan jsturges@stmedianetwork.com October 28, 2012 3:50PM
Ross Truemper is co-principal at West Aurora High School.
Updated: November 30, 2012 6:06AM
AURORA — The West Aurora School District is again on the hunt for a principal to lead West High School, and administrators are looking to students, parents, staff and residents for input.
The district has posted a short survey on its website, asking those interested about the traits they value in a principal.
“We’re asking people what kind of principal we need,” said School District spokesman Mike Chapin.
Chapin said more than 400 people have already taken the survey.
After the survey results are compiled, a series of focus groups made up of students, staff and community members will help the district make sense of the information and hone in on the right candidate for the position, said Superintendent James Rydland.
Rydland added that the district is seeking a candidate “who is going to focus on student learning.”
The district is accepting resumes for the position, and will need to have someone at the helm beginning July 1, Chapin said.
This is the second school year that West Aurora High School has been running under interim two-principal leadership. Ross Truemper and Rudy Keller were offered co-principal positions in August 2011, after then-Principal Dan Bridges announced he was resigning and took over as the superintendent of the Naperville School District.
The initial arrangement called for Truemper and Keller to manage the school for one year while the district searched for a full-time principal, but the search came up dry, according to Chapin.
Residents have until Nov. 1 to complete the survey, which is posted at www.sd129.org, under the heading “In The News.”
