Five Years Later: Leading for Tomorrow鈥檚 Schools Today
July 09, 2025
Author
This is the ninth part of a twenty-one blog series, 5 Years Later: Lessons, Innovation, and the Future of Public Education, exploring how PreK-12 education has evolved and what lessons we carry forward. This series will highlight the resilience, creativity, and strategic adaptations that have redefined public education since the pandemic. View the full schedule and roster of contributors
Five years ago, school leaders across the nation faced a test of vision, flexibility, and resolve. The COVID-19 pandemic upended nearly every assumption we had about schooling. But from that disruption came clarity鈥攁 sharper focus on what matters most: people, purpose, and possibility.
From Crisis Response to Strategic Reimagination
In North Shore School District 112鈥攕erving the communities of Highland Park, Highwood, and Fort Sheridan, just north of Chicago鈥攚here I鈥檝e served as superintendent since 2018, we moved quickly from crisis management to strategic reimagination. We leaned on what we had been building: a culture of trust, transparent communication, and innovation rooted in equity.
But we also had to evolve鈥攆ast.
The early pandemic days were a blur of shifting health guidance, virtual learning pivots, and overwhelming emotion. Like many superintendents, I found myself making decisions that carried great weight, often with limited or conflicting information. I also found myself relying more deeply than ever on my team and my community. One of the clearest lessons we learned was the power of shared leadership.
Reimagining Our Learning Environments
Before the pandemic, our district had already embarked on a major long-range facility plan to modernize aging buildings and reimagine learning environments. But the urgency increased as we realized that our school spaces weren鈥檛 just outdated鈥攖hey were inadequate for the kind of collaboration and connection today鈥檚 learners need.
Rather than pausing, we brought the community in. We created a 鈥淢odern Learning Committee鈥� composed of students, staff, parents, and partners. We hosted dozens of town halls, design workshops, and feedback sessions鈥攙irtually and in person. We didn鈥檛 just rebuild schools. We redefined what they could be.
Space as a Reflection of Values
I remember one moment vividly. While planning the redesign of both middle school campuses, a student told me, 鈥淚 want a school where both of my cultures are celebrated.鈥� That moment reinforced a truth I carry with me: physical spaces are more than buildings鈥攖hey鈥檙e reflections of values.
That student鈥檚 voice helped shape not only our design decisions but our instructional priorities as we鈥檝e continued to modernize, upgrade, design, and build seven schools.
As we wrote in The Unfinished Leader, 鈥淟eadership is not about having all the answers; it鈥檚 about creating space for growth, reflection, and shared vision.鈥� That ethos has guided our work before, during, and especially after the pandemic. The challenges we faced sharpened our focus on what鈥檚 essential and accelerated our evolution.
Leadership is not about having all the answers; it鈥檚 about creating space for growth, reflection, and shared vision.
A Framework for Future-Ready Leadership
In our latest book, Leading for Tomorrow鈥檚 Schools Today, my co-author Nick Polyak and I share the CHANGE framework鈥攁 synthesis of leadership lessons we鈥檝e learned across districts and contexts:
Challenge the process 鈥� We don鈥檛 accept 鈥渂ecause that鈥檚 how it鈥檚 always been.鈥� Change starts when we question outdated systems and structures.
Have open conversations 鈥� Vulnerability is strength. Honest dialogue builds trust and fosters shared ownership.
Adapt and be flexible 鈥� The future won鈥檛 wait for our comfort. Agility is essential.
Navigate obstacles 鈥� We lead with optimism and clarity. Leadership during uncertainty demands confidence and humility.
Generate a shared vision 鈥� Collective wisdom outpaces individual brilliance. Engaged communities build enduring change.
Enjoy the journey 鈥� Leadership should be joyful, even when it鈥檚 hard. Reconnecting with our purpose fuels our energy.
Preparing Students for a Changing World
We鈥檝e also embedded innovation and generative AI exploration into our learning strategy鈥攑reparing students for a world that will transform many times over during their lives. From student-led podcasting projects to expanding global service learning in the Dominican Republic, we鈥檙e creating experiences that are personal, purposeful, and future-ready.
Lead with curiosity. Lean into your community. Don鈥檛 just manage change鈥�make it meaningful.
Leading with Purpose and Community
Public education doesn鈥檛 need leaders with all the answers. It needs 鈥攖hose who are still learning, still listening, and still deeply connected to the communities they serve.
Our students deserve bold, compassionate leadership that centers them in every decision.
To my fellow superintendents and educational leaders: Lead with curiosity. Lean into your community. Don鈥檛 just manage change鈥�make it meaningful. The future of public education will not be dictated to us鈥攊t will be shaped by us, with clarity, conviction, and care.
