LAKEVIEW — Lake View High School has tapped an Ogden International School assistant principal to serve as its interim principal.
PJ Karafiol will lead the Early College STEM school beginning July 1 as the school begins a year-long search for a new permanent principal.
Karafiol had a long career at Walter Payton College Prep. As one of the magnet school's founding teachers, he started there in 2000. He worked there as a department chair, curriculum coordinator and resident principal before moving to Ogden last year.
Karafiol graduated from Kenwood Academy High School, a neighborhood school in Kenwood.
Generally, an interim principal gets a contract for a year while the council conducts its search. Often, the interim principal applies for the permanent gig, but Karafiol likely will have significant competition if he does.
All three assistant principals at Lake View have indicated an interest in the top job, but were ineligible to take on the interim role. Candidates must apply for the interim pool in early spring, and they missed the deadline.
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The decision came one day after the Local School Council hosted a meet-and-greet with six candidates for the position.
The council was also considering assigning the more temporary role of acting principal, which typically goes to a retired principal for a maximum consecutive 100 work days.
Either way, Network 2 Chief Philip Salemi urged the council to move quickly with a decision, citing the exodus of Chicago Public School principals as reason to begin the search soon.
RELATED: CPS Blames State Education Funding For Principal, Teacher Exodus
With nearby high schools like Lane Tech, Schurz, North-Grand and Foreman also on the hunt, quality candidates are in high demand, Salemi said.
Lake View will be replacing outgoing principal Scott Grens, who was principal for two years before resigning to accept an elementary principalship outside the district last month.
Lake View High School Partners announced the appointment Wednesday. The group said it would schedule an event for parents and community members to meet Karafiol soon.
His resume describes Karafiol as a fluent French speaker who got his start teaching at the University of Chicago and Providence-St. Mel School before starting his work as a math teacher at Walter Payton.
There, he served on the local school council for two years and advised the math team, Gay-Straight Alliance and freshman orientation group.
Karafiol graduated from Harvard University with a degree in philosophy. He has a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago, where he also completed a year of law school.
The Local School Council will meet next at 6:30 p.m. July 7.
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