An educator for 33 years and a superintendent for the last 16, North Shore School District 112 Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld led the district serving Highland Park and Highwood through the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of the Fourth of July mass shooting.
Parents, colleagues and community members credit his leadership style with improving the already good quality of education, upgrading facilities, bringing the latest technology — including artificial intelligence — and more to the district.
Two of Lubelfeld’s mentees — District 112 Deputy Superintendent Monica Schroeder and Steger School District 194 Superintendent Anthony McConnell — thanked him for preparing them for the job McConnel has and the one Schroeder will assume when Lubelfeld retires June 30.
Announcing his retirement nearly two years ago, Lubelfeld began preparing Schroeder to succeed him. District 112 Board of Education President Art Kessler said the board thought about a protracted search and concluded it was unnecessary.
When Lubelfeld left the helm of Deerfield Public Schools District 109 in 2018 for D112, the board there never thought about a search. Lubelfeld literally handed a baton to McConnell, then the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning.
Dozens of teachers, administrators and staff from D112, as well as people from the community, celebrated Lubelfeld’s 33-year career as an educator and his time locally at a farewell party on Tuesday at Northwood Middle School in Highland Park.
Continually surrounded by well-wishers during an hour of socializing before a formal program of speakers and videos recollecting his career, Lubelfeld listened to what others had to say before speaking himself.
“Most of all, I see relationships,” Lubelfeld said as he looked into the crowd. “When I think back on my career, I do not think about titles. I do not first think about agendas, plans, policies, evaluations, budgets, referendums, strategic plans, even buildings. I think about people.”
Just over two-thirds of Lubelfeld’s career took place in District 112, starting as a middle school teacher at Elm Place Middle School in 1997 before becoming the assistant principal for four years, principal for another four and then an assistant superintendent for human resources.
During his tenure as Elm Place principal, Lubelfeld hired Schroeder as the assistant principal after she taught for six years in Palatine. During the interview, she said he asked her about her long-term goal in education. She said she hoped to be a human resources administrator.
“He signed me up for the American Association of School Personnel Administrators conference, took me there and introduced me to people,” Schroeder said. “That was 20 years ago, and he’s still teaching me. He helps people know about their job.”
From his assistant superintendent role in District 112, Lubelfeld became superintendent of Pennoyer School District 79 in Norridge for three years in 2010 before District 109 in Deerfield hired him in 2013. A Deerfield resident, he was keenly aware of what he needed to do.
During his time in Deerfield, the district became one of the first to give every student an electronic device as he recognized a changing world and the challenges young people would face when they stepped into it.
“We’re preparing students for jobs which have not been invented yet,” he said frequently when talking to families. “We are giving them the skills to be leaders in the future.”
Shortly after arriving in Deerfield in 2013, Lubelfeld had to fill the position of assistant principal at Walden Elementary School. He hired McConnell, a high school social studies teacher from Rock Island.
“He hired me for my first administrative job,” McConnell said. “Mike (Lubelfeld) was the best superintendent I ever worked for. He cares so deeply about what he does, and he cares so much for the students. He will always find a way to do what’s right for the children.”
Advancing to principal at Walden and then assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, Lubelfeld said McConnell’s leadership skills continued to grow. When Lubelfeld accepted the District 112 job in 2018, the District 109 Board of Education unanimously approved McConnel’s promotion. Lubelfeld walked over to McConnel and handed him a baton.
When Lubelfeld took the reins of District 112, he replaced two interim superintendents after former Superintendent Michael Bregy left suddenly in late 2016. With aging buildings, Kessler said voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum to build a new district-wide middle school.
“We were in crisis,” Kessler said. “We had financial issues. We saw what he was doing next door in 109. It was doing really well, and we wanted him to run our school district. We needed strong leadership and he brought that to the district. He is an inspiring leader and skillful professional.”
Knowing the history of the rejected referendum, Lubelfeld said building confidence with the staff and community was a high priority. Through everything, doing what was best for the students was the priority, several speakers said on Tuesday.
“We had to rebuild trust in a community,” Lubelfeld said. “At the time, it was broken.”
Problems from the failed referendum remained. Buildings were aging and needed upgrading. He said he started with a gut renovation first at Northwood and then at Edgewood Middle School. It was a $75 million project done with available funds and no additional taxes.
Once confidence was built with what Kessler called “two state-of-the-art middle schools,” Lubelfeld began renovating all elementary schools except the newer Oak Terrace on a multi-year timetable. Lincoln Elementary School was permanently closed.
Lake County Regional Superintendent of Schools Michael Karner spoke at the celebration on Tuesday. He talked about Lubelfeld’s accomplishments in creating academic excellence, but emphasized what he considered Lubelfeld’s top priority.
“What was hugely important was his guiding principle … what’s best for the kids,” Karner said.
Though Lubelfeld is retiring as a superintendent, he said he will be continuing to teach leadership development at National Louis University. Already the author of five books in the past nine years, more may be on the way.
Lubelfeld’s current books are “The Unlearning Leader: Leading for Tomorrow’s Schools,” “Student Voice: From Invisible to Invaluable,” “The Unfinished Leader: A School Leadership Framework for Growth & Development,” “The Unfinished Teacher: Becoming the Next Version of Yourself,” and “Leading for Tomorrow’s Schools Today.”
