Members of the School District U-46 leadership team were front and center Sept. 30 for the latest Aspiring Superintendents Forum.
Launched in 2021 by NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations Associate Professor Ben Creed and Clinical Assistant Professor Lynn Gibson, the semiannual forum allows students to probe the minds of current practitioners.
U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson was joined by cabinet members Annette Acevedo, Lela Majstorovic, Mark Moore, Trisha A. Olson, Leatrice Satterwhite and Kyle VonSchnase.
The group fielded questions from the online audience, including more than three dozen aspiring superintendents enrolled in the NIU Ed.S. in Educational Administration program, and offered words of advice and inspiration.
Johnson began with a description of U-46, the state’s second-largest district spanning 90 square miles, 11 communities and three counties. Its 56 schools are home to more than 35,000 students.
What those numbers demand, the team said, is a necessary commitment to “a strong, balanced, central leadership” that is efficient, responsive, oriented to customer service, aligned to the strategic plan, open to feedback, providing space for every voice and “being where we’re needed when we’re needed” so that students are engaged, learning and growing.
“It certainly is a team sport,” said Johnson, who called their goal “to do good things for kids.”
She spoke about navigating the transition from the building level to the district headquarters, a move she made in 2013 when she left the principal’s office of Bartlett High School to become U-46’s assistant superintendent of Teaching and Learning.
Her advice: Think about your work and your experiences. Meet everyone you can. Ask good questions. Take great notes. Listen to everything people share with you. Forge relationships. Say yes. Keep learning. Discover something about yourself as a leader.
Other topics included the frequency of interactions between cabinet officials and staff in the buildings – Johnson said that she visits every school at least twice each year and gathers regularly with the principal network – as well as onboarding for leadership and preparing for school board meetings.
Addressing a hypothetical scenario on how to manage philosophical disagreements between district administrators, Johnson responded that she and her team know that they must make U-46’s beliefs and values their own beliefs and values.
“I’m not willing to sacrifice good things for our students,” she said, including every family and community member as beneficiaries.
Cabinet officials also answered questions about how they prioritize well-being among themselves and how they manage a healthy work-life balance.
Among their tips were ensuring that they get to know each other on a personal basis, understand how they collaborate professionally, participate in fun teambuilding activities and encourage each other to take vacation time away from the job.
For Majstorovic, deputy superintendent of Instruction and the mother of three, the successful combination of career and home requires being “always willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work.”
“At the end of the day,” she said, “if you believe in the work, and this is what you want to do, you find time to do it because this is your passion.”
Craig Carter, principal of Prairie Hill Elementary School in Prairie Hill School District #133, was among the NIU graduate students who logged into the Zoom-enabled event.
“School district leadership is a complex task,” said Carter, who will complete his Ed.S. in the summer of 2027. “Listening to Dr. Johnson and her cabinet discuss the intricacies of achieving their shared goals provided me the opportunity to learn from true professionals and leaders in the field.”
Maria Treto-French, a member of the Ed.S. cohort graduating in Spring 2027, is assistant superintendent and Chief School Business Official of Antioch CCSD 34.
She “especially appreciated the U-46 team’s transparency in sharing both the challenges and successes they face in their roles.”
“Being able to engage with professionals who are actively involved in the day-to-day work provided valuable insights that go beyond what can be learned in a classroom or, in my case, a smaller district in comparison to U-46,” said Treto-French, who already holds NIU’s Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and the M.S.Ed. in School Business Management.
“A special key takeaway that I found valuable was their emphasis on the importance of collaboration across departments to support student success,” she added. “Hearing how they prioritize communication and teamwork strengthens for me how important those skills are in any educational setting. I know this perspective will be incredibly helpful as I continue to grow professionally.”
