OLD TOWN — Principal Elizabeth Heurtefeu is going to leave behind some big shoes to fill, but the new principal at LaSalle Language Academy is ready for the challenge.
The Local School Council at the Old Town school has selected Beth Bazer as its next principal.
Bazer is currently assistant principal at Lakeview's Hawthorne Scholastic Academy, 3319 N. Clifton Ave., which like LaSalle is a magnet school.
Bazer is also currently pursuing her doctorate in urban school leadership at the University of Illinois Chicago.
"I've just been so impressed by what I've seen," Bazer said. "I'm very excited about the foreign language and culture program [at LaSalle]. It's unique in the city."
Bazer said she's already received emails from LaSalle parents and from parents of students whose children had graduated from the school years ago talking about the success of the language program.
Heurtefeu, the current principal, has served as LaSalle’s principal for eight years and has helped the school grow to one of the highest performing schools in CPS.
"My goal is not to come in making changes," Bazer said. "LaSalle is a school that's fantastic. It's a school that is already performing at a very high level."
This is Bazer's first job as a principal, but she hopes to bring her experience at Hawthorne, where teachers are empowered to innovate in their classrooms, into LaSalle, 1734 N. Orleans.
She has served as assistant principal at Hawthorne since June 2012.
"I am not someone who micromanages, and will often have teachers who come to me with an idea, something they learned about, some research that they've read," Bazer said. "I always try to be supporting about ideas that teachers have."
Bazer, who plans to work with Heurtefeu and LaSalle's teachers on the transition, will take over July 13.
Heurtefeu made news in March when in an interview with DNAinfo Chicago she stated one of the main reasons she was not seeking to renew her contract at LaSalle was due to over-testing.
The principal selection committee at LaSalle has been working for months to find her replacement.
The process has included taking out advertisements, hosting a few rounds of interviews and school forums, including one with teachers at the school.
The committee narrowed it down to three candidates and selected Bazer.
John Falck, a member of LaSalle's local school council, said Bazer was a great fit.
"In terms of the match at our school, the majority focuses on [Bazer]," Falck said. "She was from a very similar background."
LaSalle's focus as a magnet school is on world languages while Hawthorne's is on literature and writing.
Unlike Heurtefeu, who speaks four languages, Bazer's language background is limited.
She studied Spanish during school, but is not fluent.
As part of a pact with the selection committee, she has pledged to pick up Spanish again.
"Having the opportunity to go through language learning myself will really give me a special understanding of what students are going through," Bazer said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
