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New Lake View Interim Principal Wants To Hear From Students, Meet Community

By Ariel Cheung | July 1, 2016 5:55am
 Lake View High School will introduce the community to its new interim principal after the July 7 meeting of the Local School Council.
Lake View High School will introduce the community to its new interim principal after the July 7 meeting of the Local School Council.
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LAKEVIEW — Parents hoping to meet the new interim principal at Lake View High School will get their chance next week.

Paul Karafiol begins his work at Lake View Friday as former principal Scott Grens departs for the suburbs — one of dozens of principals who have lef Chicago Public Schools this summer.

Karafiol's goal is "not to disrupt the good work that is already being done at Lake View, but to continue and extend it," he said in a message to the community Tuesday.

RELATED: Lake View High School Taps Ogden's PJ Karafiol For Interim Principal

Lake View parents, students and staff will have a chance to discuss that future with Karafiol ahead of Thursday's Local School Council meeting. From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the school, 4015 N. Ashland Ave., the new interim principal will be on hand to discuss school issues with the community.

He also asked students to email him over the summer and share "how you see Lake View, both what you love about it and what you wish could be different."

Karafiol got his start in CPS student teaching for Steve Starr's summer pre-calculus program at Lake View. To Karafiol, the class was "a symbol of the best CPS has to offer" and increased access to the AP Calculus test, which can provide high school students with college credit before graduation.

"That commitment to ensuring that every student has access to challenging, meaningful work and quality instruction is what makes Lake View special," Karafiol said. The school is "a 'HOME' to so many young people."

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.

A lifelong Chicagoan, Karafiol graduated from Kenwood Academy, a high school in Kenwood.

Grens announced his departure June 6, leaving the Local School Council scrambling to figure out its options for the 2016-17 school year.

RELATED: Can Lake View Find An Interim Principal With Assistants Out Of Running?

The council opted to offer Karafiol the interim position, which typically lasts for one year and goes to an administrator with interest in the permanent gig.

The Early College STEM school's three assistant principals have also expressed plans to apply for Grens' vacated position, and some teachers and council members said they hope to keep all three at Lake View, regardless of who is selected as the new principal.

Karafiol's resume describes him 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.

"In or out of the classroom, my primary focus is ensuring that every student has access to challenging work in a safe, supportive environment," Karafiol said in his letter, which was also transcribed in Spanish.

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.

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