The District 64 Board of Education on Thursday night approved the hiring of a new assistant principal at Emerson Middle School.
Louis Kotvis will begin his duties on July 27. He replaces long-time Assistant Principal Timothy Benka, who is retiring at the end of this school year.
“We’re excited to bring Louis onto the team at Emerson,” Superintendent Eric Olson said. “He’s already been an interim principal, so we feel we’re bringing in someone with experience.”
Currently, Kotvis is the interim Assistant Principal at the Skokie School for 5th and 6th grade students in Winnetka School District 36. Prior to that, he served as an instructional coach at Middleton Elementary School in District 73½.
He’s also been a STEM instructional coach serving a number of schools in Skokie District 69 and an elementary school teacher in Skokie District 69 and Oswego School District. He has served in a number of leadership roles in his career, including planning and facilitating middle school grade level team meetings, coordinating school wide arrival and dismissal procedures and leading professional learning opportunities for staff based on strategic goals.
Kotvis earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Southern Illinois University and an Educational Leadership-Principal Preparation Master’s Degree from Concordia University in Chicago.
He was chosen from a pool of 113 applicants. Three candidates were recommended to meet with a committee consisting of central office administrators, as well as members of the Emerson staff.