Summer is typically the time for school construction projects, but it's also when administrative changes are usually made as well.
Such is the case this year in one of the elementary schools serving La Grange Park, District 95 -- which has hired a new superintendent for the 2009-10 school year to replace the outgoing Thomas Hurlburt.
Mark Kuzniewski, 39, who now works for Aptakisic Jr. High in Buffalo Grove's District 102, was selected by the School Board last month, following a 3-month search and interview process. His contract calls for an annual compensation of $135,000.
Some 96 percent of Aptakisic students met or exceeded state standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test in 2008 -- up 16 percent from 2004, before he took over as principal -- when only 80 percent met those same standards.
The School Board apparently found Kuzniewski's emphasis on curriculum and his record of improving student achievement attractive, hoping he can make similar improvements here.
A graduate of Thornwood High School, he earned a doctorate in educational leadership from National-Louis University in December 2008.
He spent eight years as a principal in both Buffalo Grove and Lake Zurich and four years as an English teacher and coach at McHenry High School.
Come this summer, Kuzniewski will replace Hurlburt, the superintendent since 2006 who is leaving to become superintendent of District 157-C in Frankfort.
