MES Principal Leaving After One Year for D58 Job

After 12 years with , including one as principal of , Chris Clavenna has taken a position at a junior high school in Downers Grove, she said on Wednesday.

"Even though I am leaving Mokena, Mokena will always be a very special district for me," Clavenna said.

Clavenna will be starting as assistant principal at in the fall, she said. She was assistant principal at for a year before taking the MES job last August.

"I just really liked that level. The young kids are great. It's been a wonderful experience, but my niche is really at the junior high level," she said. "I think that I always thought that someday I would return to a junior high position."

Clavenna took the MES job 11 days before classes started for the current school year.

It was part of , ousting former Superintendent Karen Perry to a position as Stein's assistant.

This returned Clavenna to the school where she started her D159 career. She taught fifth grade at MES for one year until the old junior high was converted into for fourth- and fifth-graders.

She taught at Homer School District 33C for five years before starting at D159.

D159 has already listed Clavenna's position on the district website.

Clavenna said she will be making more money at her new job, but that was a small part of her motivation.

"I will be making more money, but, no, my decision wasn't based on that. It was mostly the (grade) level. That was about 90 percent of it," she said.

Superintendent Steve Stein, board President John Troy and Downers Grove School District 58 representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday.