Principal Graeber high-fives a North student on the first day of school.
On one side of town, a veteran pro is coming home to finish her career where it began – in her new/old school’s golden anniversary year.
On another, a rookie who’s well-groomed for his new role is stepping into his first pair of principal shoes.
Kathie Danielson and Ben Graeber are taking the reins at Hoover and North high schools, respectively, in 2017-18.
Principal Danielson speaks to a crowd on the first day of classes at Hoover, kicking of a celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary.
Forty-two years into her DMPS career, Danielson’s still got the fever. Standing on a bench to preside over the ribbon-cutting ceremony before school on Opening Day that kicked off Hoover’s 50th year in business, she was as fired up as a freshman with hundreds of new friends.
“Some of you don’t know me,” she hollered into the mic. “I’m Mrs. Danielson, your new principal, but I’m not really new to Hoover.”
No kidding.
Danielson’s first teaching job was at Hoover in 1975. In 2000 she returned as vice-principal. Her service to the district has also included stops as principal at Callanan and Roosevelt.
All three of her children are Husky grads, too. One of them, Jason, also taught there before moving to Central Academy. So she is hardly a pup when it comes to the Huskies.
“Okay, here’s the deal. I’ve had 10 years of principal experience, and then the opportunity to be the (district’s) high school director for three more,” Danielson said Wednesday. “I went from the down and dirty work to the 20,000 foot view. My learning went off the charts those three years. So now I get this cool opportunity before I retire to return to the principal seat.”
Rest assured she will do more than keep it warm for her successor.
Graeber was a popular choice when he got the top spot at North earlier this summer. Watching him at school you can see his knack for connecting with kids. He works the hallways like a pol working a roomful of constituents. If he had run for the office of principal he might have been elected by acclamation.
“I pursued this job because it is, without question, my dream job,” Graeber said. “I look forward to building and expanding on great work by my predecessors.” Work that he had a hand in.
“Since being hired on July 7, I’ve been on the adrenaline rush of a lifetime. I’m waking up at odd hours thinking about systems we can improve and items to tackle the next day.”
Graeber was an award-winning journalism teacher at North when Matt Smith arrived from Texas in 2010 and began a dramatic across-the-board turnaround in school achievement as the principal there. When Smith joined the district’s administrative team (he’s now the DMPS Chief of Schools) he was succeeded by vice-principal Mike Vukovich, who sustained the forward momentum, and Graeber moved up to the post of School Improvement Leader, playing a key role as North was one of six schools to pilot the district’s transition to the Schools for Rigor curriculum model. Now Vukovich is replacing Danielson as the district’s director of high schools, freeing her to complete the full circle of her distinguished career.
Besides education, the two have one other passion in common. They’re both Chicago Cub fans.
“Here’s what I’d bet a Cubs t-shirt on,” said Danielson after Day One of her 42nd, and final, school year. “I am no more or less excited, nervous, and full of self-doubt that I will be a highly effective leader than young Ben Graeber.”
Graeber’s blood ran DMPS blue and gold all his life before he got a transfusion to North green and pink. His parents were both principals during careers here. He’s a Roosevelt grad who taught at East before coming to North. His wife Amber is the district’s AP Coordinator/AVID Director and teaches at Roosevelt. The oldest of he and Amber’s two cubs started kindergarten this week at Cowles. So, despite this being his first year as a principal, he’s clearly been shown the ropes. His roots and investment in the district, like Danielson’s, run deep.
“We met at North, when Ben was on Faculty Senate with then-principal Dr. Joan Roberts,” said Amber Graeber. “He loved that building and those kids back then and he still loves it now. He wakes up every day excited to go to work. I’m excited to see how he navigates this new role and continues the great work done at North by others like Mike Vukovich and Matt Smith.”
Danielson & Graeber sounds like a law firm. Kathie and Ben sounds a little two familiar. How about Mrs. Danielson and Mr. Graeber? Two of the principal players in the DMPS drive to become the model for urban education. One almost finished, the other just getting started.
