Six U-46 staff members were promoted to new administrative positions at Monday night’s school board meeting.
Three are principals who will assume their new jobs in August at the start of the 2026-27 school: Jennifer Reyes will helm Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin, Jason Krause will be in charge at Abbott Middle School in Elgin and Ashley Talip at Century Oaks Elementary School in Elgin, according to a news release.
Reyes, who succeeds Rebecca Gabrenya, has been principal of Abbott Middle School principal since July 2024 and coordinating efforts to close the school as the district realigns its school buildings and moves its sixth-grade students into middle schools currently housing only seventh- and eight-graders.
Prior to that appointment, Reyes was assistant principal of freshman success for two years at Bartlett High School. She’s also been the assistant principal of student services at East Aurora High School, dean of students at Metea Valley High School in Aurora and dean of students at Plainfield North High School.
Krause will become principal at Abbott Middle. While Legacy Middle School in Elgin is under construction, Abbott will serve as a shared campus, housing both sixth-grade Legacy students and eighth-grade Abbott students, according to the release.
Krause has been a U-46 administrator for the past four years and is currently interim principal of Centennial Elementary in Bartlett. Prior to Centennial, he was assistant principal at Spring Trail Elementary in Carol Stream.
Krause began his administrative career at Edgebrook Elementary School in McHenry and spent more than 16 years as a physical and health education teacher, coordinator and athletic director.
Talip will be replacing Cheryl Frederickson, who is retiring from Century Oaks Elementary School at the end of the current school year. Talip has been the assistant principal at Century Oaks since 2022 and was a school social worker at Lowrie Elementary School in Elgin from 2013 to 2022.
New network heads
In the 2026-27 school year, Paige Moran will be executive director of the U-46 High School Network and Jacqueline Menoni will be executive director of the Bartlett Network.
Moran is replacing William Johnson, who has been named the new assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, according to the release. She has been principal of Streamwood High School since 2023.
Prior to that, Moran was assistant principal of STEM at Streamwood High School and before joining U-46, worked for 10 years at Pritzker College Prep in Chicago, serving as a ninth-grade math teacher, dean of students and assistant principal.
Menoni is replacing Kyle Bunker, who is retiring. From 2024 to 2025, she was the area superintendent of Waukegan Public Schools and from 2015 to 2024 served as a principal in the Chicago Public Schools system. During her time there, she was named a Golden Apple Leader of the Year, the release said.
New plant operations director
Brent Braski will start June 1 as U-46’s director of plant operations.
Since January 2025, Braski has been the director of facilities for Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 and for two years prior to that, he was director of maintenance for Kane County Building Management. From 2010 to 2022, he was a maintenance lead at Joliet Junior College.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
