ROSCOE VILLAGE — It took Forrest Claypool less than a week to arrive at a decision that Lane Tech's Local School Council labored over for months: Kathryn Anderson has been named the new principal of the North Side selective enrollment high school.
The announcement was made Thursday. Claypool had been given the task of choosing between Anderson and elementary principal Cliff Gabor, the other finalist for the job, after Lane's LSC failed to reach consensus following a months-long selection process that resulted in a series of deadlocked votes.
In keeping with Lane Tech's tradition of promoting from within, Claypool opted for Anderson, an assistant principal at the school since 2012.
"After the LSC recommended two high-quality candidates, my team and I have determined that Kathryn Anderson is the ideal candidate to lead Lane Tech and build on the school's impressive record of achievement," Claypool said in a statement.
"I feel great. I feel very excited. This is truly an honor," said Anderson, who joined Lane's science department in 2007, teaching genetics and biology.
"It's been a tough time going through the process ... but it's been a good process in terms of garnering support," she said. "It was good to get to know some of the tasks we have to work on and really hearing people's voices."
Her first order of business will be to meet with staff, students, parents and community members. "I'm going to be forging new relationships," she said.
As an administrator, Anderson served as coordinator of Lane's academic center during its inaugural year and was later given oversight of the school's alpha honors STEM and advanced placement programs.
With the school well-positioned on the academic front, Anderson said she was looking forward to burnishing Lane's reputation on other fronts, including revitalizing athletics at the "school of champions."
Anderson takes the helm at Lane Tech during a particularly trying time for CPS, and admitted "there are several things that are daunting."
But she applied for the position with her eyes wide open, she noted. To wit, Anderson, who holds an MBA in addition to master's degrees in education and education leadership, has been in charge of Lane's budget the last three years.
Given all of the well-publicized challenges facing the district, why would she want the job?
"I think that we can all agree Lane is unique," Anderson said. "There's a family culture."
While she may be the lone person atop the Lane pyramid, Anderson knows she isn't alone in striving for the school's success.
"I know that I have thousands of people supporting me and supporting the school," she said.
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