Mr. Dan Oakley, Superintendent
Dan Oakley, Superintendent
Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year, one and all! I am very pleased to continue working with the students, faculty and staff, and community of Avon! It seems almost impossible that four years have come and gone since I began at Avon. At the end of last year, I completed my 25th year in education, and I am proud to have been and continue to be a part of the Avon community. I am looking forward to the upcoming year.
I have written before and will continue to verify that our schools face unprecedented challenges. Among them are the budget crisis in both Illinois and the nation, new laws such as Illinois' laws changing how teacher evaluations will be done, moving from the Illinois Learning Standards to the Common Core Standards, and, as in our case, the need to reorganize, as the dollars are simply not available to continue for very long. Competing demands of various groups in our society are bringing pressure to bear on our schools, and therefore our communities, as has never been seen before.
A mantra that we have used here at Avon is what we can't do anything about is something we don't spend our time complaining about or debating. As pressures in the form of new laws and requirements are applied from both the state and federal levels, these are simply items we must live with and comply with. We instead do our best daily to face forward and get on with the business of meeting the expectations that are being handed our way.
I mentioned above the topic of reorganization. The Committee of 10 for the three districts (Abingdon, Avon, and Bushnell-Prairie City) recommended, and the schools boards have agreed, that a petition for a consolidation of the three districts should be prepared for placement on the March 2012 election ballot. The Committee of 10 (web site) has done a great job at looking at many concerns involved in this process, and the three boards and administration thank them for their work. If at any point you have questions about where the process stands or questions about components of the reorganization petition or proposed district, please call me at 309-465-3708 or e-mail me at doakley@avonschools.us.
Have a great year!
Sincerely,
Dan Oakley, Superintendent
About me
I grew up in southern Illinois just north of Newton, Illinois. I graduated from Newton Community High School in 1982 and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics Education at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston Illinois in 1986. I received my Masters of Science degree in Educational Administration from Western Illinois University in Macomb Illinois in 1997, and my Education Specialist certification in 2007. I am currently enrolled in the Doctoral program at Western Illinois University, with anticipated graduation in 2013. (I passed my comps! Yahoo!)
Beth and I were married in 1991. Beth is an administrative assistant for the Vice-President for Student Services at WIU. We have raised two children, Andy (married to Callie) and Amy (married to Curtis). Andy and Callie are geologists for Anadarko Oil in Denver, CO. Amy is a Crime Scene Technician in Ormond Beach, FL, and Curtis is an EMT studying to become a physician's assistant.
My hobbies are music (both listening and singing), reading, writing, watching a lot of sports, as well as giving the family pets - a Himalayan cat and a Shicon puppy) l- ots of attention.
Work history
2007-2011 Avon CUSD #176, Avon, Illinois - Superintendent
2003-2007 Hamilton Schools, Hamilton, Illinois - Hamilton Junior-Senior High School principal
2002-2003 Colchester Schools, Colchester, Illinois - administrative assistant, athletics and technology
1996-2002 Colchester Schools, Colchester, Illinois - athletic director and technology coordinator
1994-2002 Colchester Schools, Colchester, Illinois - high school mathematics
1988-1994 Colchester Schools, Colchester, Illinois - junior high school mathematics
1986-1988 RUCE Schools, Reddick, Illinois - jr-sr high school mathematics
Coaching and extra-curriculars - Elementary basketball, junior high baseball, basketball and math teams, high school baseball, JETS/WYSE, scholastic bowl, and other academic teams
Organizations
Illinois Association of School Administrators
Delabar CTE System
-President, 2011-2012
-Vice-President, 2010-2011
-Secretary, 2009-2010
Western Illinois Administrators Roundtable
-President, 2011-2012
-Vice-President, 2010-2011
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Delta Kappan
