Schools

New Principal Hired For St. John Brebeuf

With Margaret Whitman retiring after this school year ends, the Niles school has hired the principal of a Catholic K-8 school which is being converted to an early childhood center.

Robert Gawlik, a Catholic school principal who has 25 years of teaching experience, will become the principal of St. John Brebeuf School in Niles after Principal Margaret Whitman retires at the end of this school year, Rev. Mike Meany, the pastor, announced.

"We were impressed with his enthusiasm, passion and roll up your sleeves attitude," Meany said Friday. 

Gawlik has done very well in his current principal job at Nativity BVM School, on Chicago's South Side at 68th and California, Meany said, adding people there praised him for being a hard worker and working well with parents, teachers and families.

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The change in school principals marks the second big transition for the parish in about a year. Last June, longtime parish pastor Rev. Tom May got transferred and Rev. Meany arrived. 

Earlier:

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Gawlik is enthusiastic about coming to St. John Brebeuf.

"I'm excited about coming there. I've been living on the Northwest side (near Belmont and Austin) for years, and I would pass St. John Brebeuf and I never imagined I'd be working there," he said. 

"My parents are both buried at St. Adalbert's cemetery so it feels like it's just around the corner."

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He said it was an honor to work at SJB and called it a beautiful school.

"I hope to continue the great work Mrs. Whitman has already started," he said.

His current school changing to early childhood only

The Archdiocese of Chicago has decided to discontinue kindergarten through eighth grade at Nativity BVM School and change it over to an early childhood center.

K-8 students there will instead attend a charter school, Catalyst Maria, which is opening just down the block at the former Maria High School, Gawlik said. 

Gawlik taught at St. Stanislaus, St. Mary of Angels

Gawlik is in his twenty-ninth year in the Archdiocese of Chicago, according to a statement from St. John Brebeuf School. He taught 25 of those years at the junior high level, mostly at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr, Chicago. For the following three years, he served in Chicago as an assistant principal at St. Mary of the Angels and Maternity B.V.M., before becoming principal at Nativity B.V.M., for the past three years.

Gawlik graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from DePaul University, Chicago and received his master’s degree in Educational Administration from Dominican University, River Forest in 2008.

He has certifications in Illinois Type 03 and Type 75 with endorsements in Self-contained general Education (K-9) and Upper Elementary/ Junior High Language Arts, according to the statement. 

"While my primary role at St. John Brebeuf will be to maintain and then improve upon the already well-established curriculum and spiritual life of the students and their families, I am also very excited about my chance to be involved with the school and parish’s social events and the school’s extracurricular activities," Gawlik said in the statement.

"I hope that my enthusiasm towards school life will inspire the current students to view St. John Brebeuf as their second home long after they graduate. It is also my intention to spread the word about St. John Brebeuf to the outlying community in order to welcome as many new families as possible."

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