District 39 is pleased to announce that Claire Kreller has been approved as the next Assistant Principal for McKenzie Elementary School. Kreller will replace Anthony Haduch, who was approved as the next principal of Highcrest Middle School in March. Kreller emerged as a top choice from an outstanding pool of candidates to join McKenzie’s leadership team. She will begin her work at McKenzie on July 1.
Kreller comes to District 39 after 13 years as an educator in the city, the last two as the Senior Manager of Teacher Development with Distinctive Schools, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and accelerating the work of charter schools. At Distinctive Schools, she oversaw the implementation of the organization’s coaching model across nine charter school campuses, providing strategic direction, professional development, and mentorship for educational leaders to ensure impactful instructional coaching and growth. She also partnered with campus leadership to enhance teaching practices and improve student outcomes while also working to develop and facilitate collaborative coaching structures aimed at increasing instructional capacity.
Prior to moving to the Distinctive Schools Academic Team, she spent 11 years at the Chicago International Charter School’s (CICS) Irving Park campus, the first seven years as a 2nd and 3rd grade teacher. She concurrently spent two years as a Lead from Within Instructional Coach from 2017-19 before transitioning into the campus’ Lead Instructional Coach role in 2019, where she worked to build teacher capacity and understanding of best practices as a foundational pillar for student growth and achievement. Kreller made the move into administration in 2022, serving as CICS Irving Park’s Assistant Principal of Culture and Operations for one year before transitioning to her current role with Distinctive Schools network team.