SUPERINTENDENT

The Office of the Superintendent is responsible for overseeing the efficient operation of Community Consolidated School District 21. The office is responsible for making decisions and policies that benefit both student and staff success. It also promotes the success of all students and supports the efforts of the Board of Education to keep the district focused on learning and achievement.

Superintendent: Dr. Michael Connolly
Phone: (847) 537-8270

Dr. Michael Connolly officially joined CCSD21 in July 2018 from Keeneyville School District 20 in Hanover Park, where he had spent seven years as superintendent. Dr. Connolly previously served as director of curriculum at Fenton High School in Bensenville Community High School District 100, and has experience as a teacher, principal and school improvement coordinator.

“Dr. Connolly distinguished himself by virtue of his broad-based experience as a teacher, principal, school improvement coordinator and more than six years as a current superintendent in a very diverse district that mirrors some of the challenges experienced in District 21,” said former Board of Education President Phil Pritzker in 2017. “His child-centered approach, supported by an open and engaging personal management style, is one that the board believes will be the right fit for our community.”

During his post at Fenton, Dr. Connolly played a key role in moving the district’s curriculum to align with the nationally developed Common Core Standards. Under his current watch, CCSD21 has gone through a thorough transformation, including a successful referendum that funded such building upgrades as tighter security at school entrances and air conditioning in all classrooms, the implementation of district-wide full-day kindergarten, the full renovations of eight library and media centers (the final four will occur this summer), the reintroduction of school resource officers, the construction of a new community service center and administrative office building, and the construction of a student-based health center to serve the CCSD21 community.

Dr. Connolly holds an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Morton College, a Bachelor of Arts in the Teaching of History from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Master of Arts in Administration of Education from Governors State University, and a Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership from National Louis University.