Hartsburg-Emden’s Wisniewski part of specially trained superintendents to graduate from Illinois School for Advanced Leadership

[May 18, 2018] 

HARTSBURG-EMDEN 

Hartsburg-Emden CUSD 21 Superintendent Terry Wisniewski is one of 25 Illinois superintendents who completed the Illinois School for Advanced Leadership (ISAL) cohort.

The 18-month program is designed to provide practicing Illinois superintendents with experiences that build exemplary knowledge and skills essential for successfully impacting student achievement.

Wisniewski, who is in his third year as superintendent at Hartsburg-Emden, was one of 25 superintendents who graduated from ISAL during a ceremony May 11.

“All growth depends upon activity you do,” Wisniewski said. “The Illinois School for Advanced Leadership (ISAL) has put me on a never-ending journey of growth, improvement, and adversity; a foundation in which a better tomorrow can be built.”

ISAL was developed in 2008 and is sponsored by the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), the statewide organization that represents more than 1,600 public school superintendents and administrators.

The 18-month program includes developing a personal professional growth plan, as well as developing a district plan for student achievement that includes conducting a comprehensive needs assessment.

Each of the ISAL students are assigned a veteran superintendent as a coach. In addition, ISAL participants also study the superintendent’s role through five leadership lenses: 1) facilitator of shared moral purpose, 2) change agent, 3) relationship/culture promoter, 4) capacity builder, and 5) coherence maker.

IASA Executive Director Brent Clark said the goal of ISAL is to create a new level of leadership in public education.

“Given all of the challenges facing superintendents and public education in Illinois, we thought it was important to provide a unique opportunity through rigorous curriculum, training and experiences for those men and women who were willing to push themselves beyond what is expected of a superintendent,” Clark said. “Everyone talks about return on investment, and in this case it will be making a difference in public education.”

[Jason Nevel
IASA Asst. Director of Communications]