LAKEVIEW — An East Garfield Park assistant principal who used to teach English at Lake View High School will be stepping in as Lake View's interim principal, his current school confirmed.
Scott Grens has been working in administration at George Westinghouse College Prep for nearly two years, according to his LinkedIn Profile.
Lake View's previous principal Lilith Werner ended her three-year tenure at the school on Friday, a year before her contract ended. She wrote a letter to staff saying she would continue working with area schools, but details of the new job were not immediately available.
Ravenswood-Ridge Network Chief Craig Benes addressed Lake View's staff Monday morning and planned to meet with local school council chair Monte Luzzader before Wednesday's local school council meeting, according to staff and internal emails.
Before going to Westinghouse, Grens participated in the New Leaders program, a national non-profit to train "transformative" leaders for low-performing schools, according to his school bio.
As part of the program, Grens completed a residency at Kenwood Academy High School in Hyde Park. There, he led "data-driven initiatives with instruction and sophomore-level student supports," according to his bio.
Grens, who is in his early 30s, taught English at Lake View for several years before joining the New Leaders program. He also started a girls golf team, coached the boys golf team and did strength and conditioning for the baseball team.
According to an article in Kenwood's school paper, Grens decided to pursue an administrative role hoping to have a broader reach.
"I wanted to impact more students then I could in a classroom," he told the school paper. "Instead of 150 students, why not more?"
He received his undergraduate degree in English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a masters of education in admistration and supervision and a master of arts in teaching from National Louis University.
Lake View High School's school council is responsible for selecting a new full-time principal. The next meeting is on Wednesday, April 30 at 6 p.m. at the school, 4015 N. Ashland Ave.
