Rita Guzman, Assistant Principal at Pioneer Elementary School for the past two years, will move to Independence Elementary School as Assistant Principal effective July 1. Kim Mulcahy, who is retiring at the end of this school year, and Jackie Mitchem have been serving as co-principals at Independence this year. Mitchem will continue as Principal for 2016-17 with assistance from Dr. Guzman.
Guzman has been with Valley View School District 365U since the 2002-03 school year, serving as a first grade bilingual teacher at both Tibbott and Skoff elementary schools and an English-as-a-Second-Language specialist at Pioneer.
A graduate of the University of St. Francis with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Master’s Degrees in both Educational Leadership and in Differentiated Instruction, she obtained her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from USF last year.
Guzman is one of only five teachers in Will County certified to work with both English Language Learners and special needs students. She was named USF’s College of Education’s Alum of the Year in 2013 and was among VVSD educators who were at the forefront of Common Core State Standards curriculum development for VVSD ESL students.