U46 separates positions again, names new Illinois Park principal

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Apryl Lowe

Updated: November 2, 2011 6:09PM

ELGIN — When School District U46 closed Woodland Heights Early Learning Center in Streamwood to save more than $300,000 last school year, it also combined the positions of principal at Illinois Park Center for Early Learning in Elgin and director of early childhood education for the district.

But, U46 spokesman Tony Sanders said, “They’re both full-time jobs.”

The Elgin school district announced Tuesday it has hired Apryl Lowe to be principal of Illinois Park Center for Early Learning in the coming 2011-12 school year. Julie Kallenbach will remain director of early childhood education, Sanders said.

The re-separation of the two positions grew out of U46’s five-year accountability plan, Destination 2015, according to Sanders. The plan, which was approved during the past school year, spells out a mission and goals for the district, as well as specific academic targets for its students.

District U46 has targeted having 98 percent of first-graders testing at or above their reading level by 2015, according to Destination 2015. A total of 66 percent of first-graders were at reading level in this spring’s standardized testing.

“A lot of it will rely on getting our early learners ready for first grade and beyond,” Sanders said. Kallenbach “needs to be working on that and let somebody else be principal of Illinois Park,” he said.

Lowe will return to U46 in that role after three years as a preschool coordinator and teacher in Geneva School District 304. Previously, she was a teacher for nine years in the Elgin district, where she worked alongside Kallenbach.

Since then, Lowe said it seems the district has made early childhood learning a districtwide initiative.

That’s important, she said, because “it sets a foundation for the rest of (students’) lives.”

“Reading is such a critical thing for them to know because if they can’t read, they can’t do science or social studies.”

While at U46, Lowe helped implement Early Reading First and was a kindergarten transition facilitator, helping students with disabilities move from preschool into kindergarten. She also is a trainer for Best Practices for Teaching Kids with Autism.

Lowe earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood/special education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She earned master’s degrees in early childhood leadership and advocacy from National Louis University and in educational administration from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

“Apryl Lowe is uniquely qualified to meet the needs of our youngest learners and help them begin their education on a path to be successful,” U46 Superintendent José Torres said in a written statement.