DIOCESE—The following men and women are the new principals at diocesan schools. 

 

Mavis DeMar

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary School, Aurora

 

Principal DeMar most recently was the principal at St. Raphael Catholic School in Naperville. Prior to that, she was principal at Hermes Elementary School in Aurora, and assistant principal at Johnson Elementary School (2015-2017). She also taught Pre-K to Grade 5 as a teacher for District #200, Wheaton-Warrenville.

 

Additionally, she trained six assistant principals to be principals and trained 26 principal candidates.

 

Her education includes coursework at Western Illinois University at Macomb, a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a certificate in Character Education from North Central College in Naperville, a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University, a master’s in Educational Leadership from Aurora University, and doctoral course work at National Louis University.

 

“I am delighted to be chosen as Annunciation BVM’s new principal here in Aurora,” she says. “I look forward to working closely with the Annunciation families and creating a school year our students will not soon forget. The new year is always exciting! I come to Annunciation as a veteran principal with many new ideas to share, but I am really interested in preserving the rich traditions of second and third generations of families at Annunciation. God bless Annunciation BVM!”

 

Dr. Marisa Christoffel

Pope St. John Paul II Academy, Aurora

 

Dr. Christoffel’s doctorate is in Curriculum and Instruction from Aurora University (July 2021). From there, she also earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership (May 2012). A master’s degree in Reading from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago (May 2009) and a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from National Louis University in Wheaton (December 2002) rounds out her education.

 

Her experience includes service most recently as a Grade 8 Social Studies teacher at Rotolo Middle School in Batavia (August 2013-2022). At the same school, she was a Grade 7 Language Arts/Social studies teacher (August 2005-June 2013), with one year (2010-2011) teaching Grade 8. Earlier she taught drama, communications and debate to Grades 6-8 (November 2003-June 2005). At Chesterbrook Academy in Bartlett, she was Lead Teacher for a classroom of ages 3 to 4 year-old children (May 2001-June 2003).

 

Dr. Christoffel also has served as a Batavia Education Association (BEA) Appraisal Consultant on a School Leadership Team, Curriculum and Assessment Advisory Council member, team leader for grade level support, on a Social Studies District Task Force Committee, and she was Dean of Students (a clinical internship) at Aurora University (August 2010-May 2011).

 

Her career objective, she says, is “to promote a collaborative educational community where people are always learning and always growing.” 

 

She adds, “I am excited and humbled to be a part of the Pope St. John Paul II Catholic Academy community. As a practicing Catholic and professional leader, I am looking forward to a positive learning experience that meets the educational needs of all students.”

 

Talarie Bilharz

St. Anne School, Dixon

 

Principal Bilharz comes to St. Anne’s from Maud E. Johnson Elementary School in Rockford where she was a K-5 assistant principal (August 2019-2022). In that role, she served in many aspects of each school day, from bus duty to formal and informal evaluations of teachers. She co-chaired all committees, participated in weekly team days, and analyzed data to help teachers in implementing interventions to maximize student learning.

 

She was a physical and life science teacher at Reagan Middle School in Dixon, creating hands-on science investigations (August 2016-June 2019). Four years prior, she was a kindergarten teacher at an elementary school in Chicago after one year there as a kindergarten teacher’s aide. And she taught Grade 3 at St. Colette School in Rolling Meadows, planning and implementing lessons on all subjects (August-October 2010).

 

She has led school efforts in student safety and security, student discipline, interactive learning opportunities, chaperoned out-of-state student trips, facilitated student council, and has coached girls’ basketball (her teams have won second place and a conference championship).

 

Her education includes a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, language arts for middle school and self-contained general education for K-9 (May 2010); English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement through the American College of Education (2014); and a master’s degree in Educational Administration from Concordia University (2019).

 

“During the COVID-19 remote/distance learning, I ‘attended’ multiple webinars to learn as much as possible to assist my staff in their creating of authentic instruction via the web,” she says in her resume. “I set up weekly zoom meetings with grade-level teams … I worked with our problem-solving team to communicate with families and respond to their needs. … I understand the importance of putting the whole child first.”

 

Carol Norman

St. Mary School, Elgin

 

Principal Norman comes to St. Mary School from service since 2020 as a STEM/Science teacher at St. Catherine of Siena School in West Dundee.

 

For two years prior she was vice principal, junior high math teacher and faculty Bible study leader at School of the Madeleine in San Diego, Calif. From 2017 on, she was also a teacher and on the student intervention team at School of the Madeleine there.

 

From 2014-2017, Principal Norman was dean of students, grant writer and Grade 2 teacher at St. Joseph School in Elgin, and for three summers was an Elgin School District summer school reading intervention teacher. She also has volunteered at St. Joseph School in a variety of programs/events including Los Posadas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Day of the Dead, and Advent/Lent services.

 

She served as principal at St. Mary School in DeKalb (2013-2014), and she was assistant principal (2011-2013) at St. Catherine of Siena School in West Dundee where she had taught Grade 3 (2003-2013).

 

Her education includes a bachelor’s degree of general studies (1987) from Northern Illinois University. She then studied basic law at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law (1987-1989). She earned a master’s degree in teaching from National-Louis University, Evanston (2004) and was in an Education Specialist Program (pre-doctorate) General Administrative License (2013) at National Louis University, Elgin.

 

“I am very excited about my new role as principal of St. Mary School in Elgin,” Principal Norman says. “Father Chris Kuhn, the parish staff, school staff, and families have been very welcoming!  I can’t wait for the school year to begin!”

 

Samantha Anderson

St. Peter School, Geneva

 

Principal Anderson is a 2008 graduate of Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock.

 

She most recently served as a District Mentor for the Dubuque, Iowa, Community School District, a position she’s held since August 2021. In that position, she supported the growth and development of first- and second-year teachers, assisting them in their duties and providing formative feedback, guiding them with a variety of data collection tools and protocols.

 

She was a Student Needs Facilitator at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Dubuque, helping students who had been referred out of the classroom with supervision, monitoring, instructing, interfacing with parents daily and teachers weekly, as well as coaching teachers (2017-2021).

 

Also at Jefferson School, she was a behavior program teacher for three years, again working with behavior-challenged students and one year as a multi-categorical math special Education Teacher. 

 

Additionally, from June 2013-July 2017, she was an Assistant Head Counselor at Loras All Sports Camp, responsible for around-the-clock care and wellbeing of counselors and campers.

 

Principal Anderson’s education includes a Bachelor of Science in Education with a major in special education from Illinois State University (December 2012), and a Master of Arts in Education with a major in principalship from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls (June 2021).

 

“I am so excited to be a part of the St. Peter family,” Principal Anderson says. “I am looking forward to my daily work with the staff and students to make the 2022-2023 school year the best yet!”

 

Mary Beth Jordan