Northbrook's Greenbriar School gets new principal Danielle Moran

Chicago Tribune

4 days ago

During the pandemic, Danielle Moran coordinated virtual learning for 1,300 students from 13 elementary schools in Wheaton-Warrenville Community Unit School District 200.
Moran served in District 200 as director of elementary instruction for the last five years, but longed to return to her days as a principal in Yorkville Community Unit School District 115.
'I was ready to become a principal again,' she said of taking the helm of Greenbriar School in Northbrook on July 1. 'I loved being an elementary school principal. I loved what I was doing. I was passionate about curriculum work.'
Moran found that she learned a great deal from working with teachers and staff from 13 elementary schools.
'It was a great experience. I wanted to take everything I learned and bring it back to a principal role,' she said. 'I was excited when I heard this position was available. It seemed like the school and the district and the initiatives they're working on were a good fit.'
Moran said her most important goal in her first year will be getting to know the community, including staff, students, families and the Greenbriar culture.
'I'm learning what their experiences are and what are the important goals for their kids,' she said. 'From there, the district has a wonderful structure of teams of committees and instructional leadership. I'm excited to get started with those teams and working on school goals of impacting academic achievement and the learning experience.'
Moran said she has been thrilled to meet students enrolled in Greenbriar's summer program during her first few weeks on the job.
'I also want to get to know kids, even a little bit in the hallways during the summer program,' she said. 'I'm excited to see them and get to know them and be in classrooms with them every day.'
Greenbriar has already accomplished much in social-emotional learning and making sure kids feel like they belong and are connected to the school and at least one adult at the school, Moran said.
'That's huge,' she said. 'That has been a really important goal for the school. Next we are continuing that work and bringing in some social-emotional experiences embedded in what they do.'
Northbrook School District 28 plans to provide resources, including the social-emotional program Wayfinder, to help students with task management throughout each day, Moran said. Staff will begin training on the program later this summer, she said.
'The idea is to make the day more cohesive for students, so they feel engaged and motivated to learn and so they feel really in charge of their own behavior,' Moran said. 'It's embedded in routines and things they do throughout the day. It makes the day smoother with less interruptions. The goal is to increase student motivation and engagement.'
Another goal for Moran is making sure students are growing in academic achievement and reaching their full potential.
Among proposed curriculum changes is the slow rollout of the Into Reading program, a resource literacy program that incorporates foundational skills in learning and includes all major pillars of reading instruction, Moran said.
'Other changes are more to provide a multi-tiered system of supports,' she said. 'It's not so much a program or curriculum. It's more developing something school-wide or district-wide to make sure students have a solid foundation in core instruction.'
Moran explained how principals work with a school's budget.
'I'm able to allocate what accounts we'll be spending it on,' she said. 'I have a lot of say and freedom as to what gets purchased for the school. That is with teacher and staff input – for furniture, materials needed, or professional learning and making sure we have teachers that belong to professional organizations.'