Dr. Laura Delgado has been hired as Geneseo Community Unit School District #228’s next superintendent.
Geneseo’s Board of Education (BOE) will formally approve the appointment at its meeting on April 10. Delgado will take over on July 1 for Dr. Adam Brumbaugh, who is moving on to Germantown Hills School District #69 after serving as Geneseo’s superintendent since 2018.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Dr. Delgado to Geneseo, and we know she will bring a great deal of passion and energy to our district,” said BOE Vice President Kane Causemaker. “Between her proven record of success in curriculum and ability to be a collaborative leader, we are very confident she will hit the ground running and take our schools to another level.”
Delgado comes to Geneseo after working as Bloomington School District #87’s Director of Elementary Education since 2021. In that role, she led the planning, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum initiatives aligned with state standards and district policies.
Delgado served as principal at Carlock Elementary School in Normal, Illinois, from 2017 to 2021, and prior to that, worked as an instructional coach and teacher in McLean County Unit 5 School District. She also worked as an instructional assistant professor at Illinois State University for two years. To begin her educational career, she spent nearly two decades teaching in elementary schools in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“I am beyond excited and really enthusiastic to get started not only on a new phase of my career, but to be able to join such an incredible district as Geneseo,” said Delgado. “I'm very, very honored to have the opportunity to be in such a supportive environment. It’s clearly a warm and welcoming community, and one that values education and children. I'm so excited to be a part of it.”
Throughout her career, the Michigan native has focused on developing and implementing curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of all learners. Delgado’s experience includes working closely with educators to promote data-driven instruction, building equity into classroom practices, and providing professional development that empowers teachers to deliver high-quality, innovative instruction.
“One of the biggest things that attracted me to the district is its commitment to education, curriculum, instruction, and achievement,” stated Delgado. “I have spent my career as an educational leader. Early in my career, I worked as a classroom teacher, but I've always been a leader in that role when it comes to curriculum initiatives and professional development.”
Delgado added, “I’ve been able to bring high quality curriculum to my district while helping with assessment and supporting students along their journey of growth. Social-emotional learning has always been a big part of the work that I do as a teacher, a principal, and as a director. I feel that culminates and makes me uniquely prepared to lead in the way that Geneseo’s school board has asked me to lead. My commitment is to foster support and continue the ongoing commitment to student achievement and growth, which we are prime and ready to continue to do in Geneseo.”
The hire of Delgado marks the end of a four-month process. Shortly after the Board of Education accepted Brumbaugh’s resignation in December, it enlisted the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) to assist with its search for a new superintendent.
Through an online survey, the BOE collected input from over 800 parents, district staff, and other community members on what they wanted in the district’s new leader. The IASB collected applications and conducted initial interviews, then recommended candidates to the BOE, which held its first round of interviews in early March and brought finalists back the following week.
The BOE invited a variety of school district leaders, along with Geneseo Education Association leadership and incoming board members, to participate in the process.
“It was very important for our board to hear what the community wanted in our new superintendent,” explained Causemaker. “It was also a priority to involve leaders from throughout our district to be in the room as we got to know the candidates.”
Causemaker added, “The more we got to know Dr. Delgado, the more we were impressed by her experience, her enthusiasm, and her vision for our district.”
Delgado says she will start by getting to know the district and its people–the students, the administrators, the support staff, and others throughout the community. From there, she hopes to improve an already proud and strong tradition of academic excellence and community engagement.
“There are some wonderful opportunities to build on the culture of excellence that clearly exists in Geneseo,” noted Delgado. “I am going to focus on looking at the data and curriculum, and support student achievement so the district continues to grow. That means enhancing student achievement in whatever path that may be, starting at the earliest level with our preschool students and all the way up through high school and the career or college path that students choose to take.”
Delgado added, “We want to make sure that students are primed for success, and that our teachers, staff and administrators have the tools that they need to help promote that success and excellence.”
Also on GeneseoSchools.org: Learn more about Dr. Delgado, her professional journey, and how she intends to lead our school district
