Superintendent Search

Skokie School District 73.5 Approves New Superintendent

December 18, 2020

Please see below for translations of this message in Arabic, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

After many months of work, the Board of Education has selected Dr. Zipporah Hightower as our next superintendent for Skokie School District 73.5.

The Board was unanimous in our decision to offer the position to Dr. Hightower. It is our belief that she has the skill set to move our district forward. Dr. Hightower was selected because of her vision, commitment, and passion for equitable education for all our current and future students.

We would like to share a few words with you from Dr. Hightower:

"As I pondered the type of school district I wanted to lead, I imagined a small district that would afford me the opportunity to get to know my staff, students, and families, in order to support them based on their needs. It is also vital for me to understand how our policies, protocols, and practices impact our school community. As I researched Skokie District 73.5, it was clear this was the district for me! I am eager to begin building relationships with our administrators, teachers, staff, students, families, and community. As a collective unit, we will work to ensure all of our students graduate able to fulfill our district’s mission to ‘help make the world a better place’.

“I would like to publicly thank the School Board members of District 73.5 for their comprehensive interview process. Also, a special thank you to the staff and parents who participated in the interview process, as well. In getting to know district stakeholders during the three interviews, I was resolved in my belief that this is indeed where I wanted to lead. District 73.5 is a special place. I look forward to continuing the upward movement in our success.”

The Board believes that Dr. Hightower is the ideal person to help our district heal as we move forward through the pandemic and into a new world.

Superintendent Search Survey

The Skokie School District 73.5 Board of Education invites you to complete a survey to assist with our current Superintendent Search. This survey will be open through midnight Monday, October 5th. To participate, please click on the survey link below in your preferred language:

Superintendent Search Stakeholder Focus Groups

In addition to the survey, there will also be opportunities to participate in virtual stakeholder meetings on Wednesday, October 7th via Zoom. Please sign up for these meetings below using the correct session link:

District 73.5 Parent/Guardians & Community (CLICK HERE to sign up for a session)
- Session One: 10:00-10:30 a.m.
- Session Two: 6:00-6:30 p.m.
District 73.5 Teachers (CLICK HERE to sign up for a session)
- Session One: 3:45-4:15 p.m.
- Session Two: 4:30-5:00 p.m.
District 73.5 Support Staff (CLICK HERE to sign up for a session)
- Session One: 2:00-2:45 p.m.
District 73.5 Administrative Team
- Session One: 1:00-1:45 p.m.

As outlined in our April 29th letter to the community, the Skokie School District 73.5 Board of Education has hired BWP and Associates to assist in the search for a new superintendent. The first step in this process was the hiring of interim superintendents. To provide leadership for the district during the 2020-2021 school year we have interviewed several teams of successful retired superintendents and have selected Dr. John Correll and Ellen Correll as Interim Superintendents starting on July 1st. Dr. Correll and Ms. Correll are currently serving in a similar interim capacity in the Antioch School District. Prior to that Dr. Correll was the long serving superintendent for the Salt Creek School District in Oak Brook. Ms. Correll was the superintendent for the Grayslake Elementary schools for 12 years. Both have strong backgrounds in curriculum and instruction. Due to pension limitations retired administrators can work no more than 120 days. Therefore, we expect that each will work 100 days, giving us coverage for 200 days. Due to the pandemic it is highly unlikely that we will be able to host a meet and greet, but optimistically we hope it is possible through the use of technology.

The search for a permanent superintendent will commence in September and we will include the opportunity for teachers, administration, staff and community members to contribute input. We look forward to partnering with the staff and community as we transition and identify the next superintendent for our amazing district.

View the Superintendent of Schools Announcement of Vacancy.