Community Corner

New Hinsdale Elementary Principal to Make Home in Lisle

Dawn Benaitis comes to District 181's Monroe Elementary from Antioch with seven years of experience as an elementary school principal.

From Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Patch: The Community Consolidated School District 181 Board of Education voted unanimously to hire part-time Lisle resident Dawn Benaitis as principal of , 210 N. Madison St., effective July 1.

Benaitis, a Darien native and graduate, will replace Heidi Fitch, whose resignation was approved by the board in April.

“I chose this district specifically to join an amazing team of educators and parents and staff who are committed to excellence for children,” Benaitis said of taking the job.

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Benaitis was the choice of District 181 Superintendant Dr. Renee Schuster.

“I’m happy to announce  that our search was very comprehensive and we found an excellent candidate,” Schuster said. “She has a strong instructional leadership style and background … as well as a background in the Danielson framework, which is our [method] of teacher evaluation, a background in teacher collaboration and data analysis.”

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Benaitis has been an elementary principal for the last seven years. She has spent the last four years in Antioch, and before that she was in Woodridge. Benaitis has three kids of her own, who will not attend District 181 schools, and currently splits her time between Antioch and Lisle. Once she takes over the Monroe job, Benaitis said, she’ll be living in Lisle full time.

The new principal believes her experience with Response To Intervention (RTI), a method of personalized instruction and assessment, is what will benefit the district most right off the bat.

“That was a need that they were looking for and in my previous two districts I worked extensively to incorporate that kind of framework within the district organization,” Benaitis said. “It’s important because it provides each child with what they need to be successful and that they can work toward their best potential.”

As mentioned above, Benaitis was also appealing to Schuster and District 181 for her familiarity with the Danielson framework, which is a collaborative teacher evaluation method based on colleague feedback, and her emphasis on data, which the principal said she will use to “strategically plan” and “drive instruction.”

Benaitis said there’s nothing she’s looking to change immediately at Monroe. The 2011-12 school year will be transitional one for her.

“I think there are a lot of amazing things going on and I’m first of all looking to listen and get to know the students and the parents and the teachers,” Benaitis said.


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