The Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Board of Education at its May 30, 2017 meeting approved the appointment of Jason Bednar as principal of Field School effective July 1. He is replacing Katie Kelly, who will become principal of Lions Park Elementary School in Mount Prospect District 57 at the end of the school year.
“Mr. Bednar is a veteran educational leader with impressive knowledge of elementary curriculum and instructional best practices as well as experience as an administrator at both the high school and elementary school levels,” according to District 64 Superintendent Laurie Heinz.
Mr. Bednar comes to District 64 most recently from Butler School District 53 in Oak Brook, where he served as principal of Brook Forest Elementary School. Previously, he served as director of elementary core curriculum and instruction for two years at Indian Prairie District 204 in Naperville and for eight years as principal of Owen Elementary School there.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Bednar worked at the high school level in District 204 for nine years. He was Dean of Students at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, and formerly an English teacher and English department liaison.
“Mr. Bednar’s extensive knowledge of curriculum and his understanding of research-based instructional methods that impact student achievement made him an attractive candidate. Additionally, evaluation methods gained from his work with the Helmsley Project and his service as a school and district administrator make him an insightful and inspiring instructional leader,” Dr. Heinz noted.
“My site visit to his current school clearly demonstrated a warm, positive atmosphere and the pride Mr. Bednar, the teachers and students have in their school -- the same caring environment our leaders foster and the community wants to remain at Field under the vision of a new leader,” she added. “He also shares our commitment to the kind of frequent, ongoing communication that is so vital to a successful school-home partnership, and which our parent survey said was critical as well,” Dr. Heinz stated.
Dr. Heinz also pointed out that Mr. Bednar has lengthy experience with initiatives that are found within District 64’s 2020 Vision Strategic Plan, such as aligning social-emotional learning standards to curriculum; creating professional learning communities to help teachers collaborate more effectively to meet the individual needs of every child and accelerate student growth; and implementing a reading workshop model that District 64 is now initiating as part of an ELA curricular review.
Mr. Bednar holds master’s degrees from both Northern Illinois University and DePaul University, and expects to complete his doctorate this summer from Northern Illinois University. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Bednar was selected from a pool of 55 candidates. Six semi-finalists were interviewed by an administrative committee, and then returned for further interviews with a 14-person committee of Field staff and parents, a District 64 Board of Education member, as well as central and building administrators. In an effort to find the right fit for Field School, Dr. Heinz also sought feedback from staff and Field parents via an online survey in addition to the site visits of two finalists.
Mr. Bednar will meet Field staff Wednesday before school closes this week. “We look forward to officially introducing Mr. Bednar to Field staff members, students and parents at a ‘meet and greet’ coordinated by the Field School PTO in August before the new school year begins,” Dr. Heinz confirmed.
