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Ogden Principal Finalist Meets the Parents

 Michael Beyer is the finalist for the top job at Ogden International School after spending the last four years at Morrill Math & Science School in Chicago Lawn.
Michael Beyer is the finalist for the top job at Ogden International School after spending the last four years at Morrill Math & Science School in Chicago Lawn.
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DNAinfo/David Matthews

NEAR NORTH SIDE — An 11-year CPS veteran credited with turning around a Southwest Side elementary school is the finalist for the top job at Ogden International School.

Michael Beyer, who has led Morrill Math & Science School in Chicago Lawn since 2011, met with parents of the Downtown K-12 school Wednesday to discuss his vision for Ogden as it seeks a new, long-term principal.

A native of suburban Woodstock, Beyer studied studio art at the University of Texas before dropping out and joining the Air Force. He later earned bachelor's and master's of arts degrees and worked in art galleries before realizing he wanted a career in education. He got licensed and taught at Dubois Elementary in Riverdale and Nobel Elementary in Humboldt Park before becoming resident principal at Talman Elementary in Gage Park and later arriving at Morrill. 

Attendance and test scores improved at Morrill with Beyer at the helm. The school also won a $1.5 million grant for a new playground, and Beyer told Ogden parents Wednesday he's "very proud of eking out every penny" he's given.

"I don't have a prescription for this school; that process needs to be shared," Beyer said. "My job as principal is to develop a system and culture so if you go away it won't all fall apart."

Beyer believes Ogden is already "highly functional" and requires more of a "focus on steady improvement, not transformational change." Still, he fielded many questions from Ogden parents Wednesday concerned about overcrowding, bullying and a lack of steady leadership

When asked, Beyer spoke to being "all over the place" at Morrill during and after school, and being accessible enough to host weekly "parent cafes." With regard to bullying and discipline, he said he preferred "restorative conversations" to stigmatizing discipline.

"Schools are places where children have to learn and learn how to act, but you can't do that by controlling them," he said.

Beyer has never worked at a high school, and if he gets the Ogden job he'd have to juggle two campuses that are more than two miles apart. He told DNAinfo Chicago he welcomed that challenge, and considered himself a "lifelong learner" yearning for new experiences. He is not alarmed by Ogden's recent leader turnover, and said he was more comfortable with the school the more he looks into it.

"It's really been a whirlwind. If you asked me a month ago I would have said I was staying at Morrill for at least two more years," he said, but added "I've never seen a school like [Ogden]. It's really a gem."

The Ogden Local School Council, which selected Beyer as the finalist from a field of 21 candidates, will vote on offering a principal contract Monday. Beyer retains the option to return to Morrill on a new full-time contract whether he is offered the principal job by Ogden or not. 

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