Dr. Laura Delgado was in her first year as a principal eight years ago when a situation arose in which she had to address a problem with a staff member.
She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but after speaking with another principal about having difficult conversations with staff, she knew what she had to do.
“He said, ‘Just ask yourself, what is right for the kids?’” shared Delgado. “I’ve always held true to that, and since then, the hard conversations aren’t hard anymore. We're in the business of educating kids.”
For Delgado, who was formally approved by Geneseo’s Board of Education on Thursday to be the school district's next superintendent, it validated the core of who she is as an educator.
“I am committed to being a very student-centered leader,” said Delgado. “I am collaborative, I am transparent, I am genuine, and I am present and accessible.”
Delgado will officially begin on July 1, when she takes over for Dr. Adam Brumbaugh.
Born and raised in Michigan, just outside of Ann Arbor, and one of six children, she comes from a family of educators.
“My mom is a teacher, and my grandfather and grandmother on my mom's side were teachers,” said Delgado. “I spent my formative years in my mom's classroom growing up. When teaching is in your blood, it's in your blood. My mom was my biggest inspiration. She taught me the importance of being able to connect with kids and help them to be seen, heard and valued.”
After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University, Delgado spent nearly two decades teaching in elementary schools, and during that stretch, went back to EMU to earn a master’s degree.
She moved to Illinois in 2013 with her husband, Rafael Delgado, a project manager for Growmark, and son, Xavi, now a freshman football player at Loras College. Delgado worked as an instructional literacy coach and classroom teacher in Normal, and then became an instructional assistant professor at Illinois State University, where she would earn her second master’s degree, and eventually, her Doctor of Education degree.
Delgado was principal at Carlock Elementary School in Normal from 2017 to 2021, then settled into her most recent role as Bloomington school district’s Director of Elementary Education.
As she looks back on her educational journey that has led her to Geneseo, she describes it as a “non-traditional path” for teaching so many years before becoming an administrator. Once she became one, though, the progression and advancement felt natural.
“Over these last four years, I came to realize that I was ready to take my leadership to that next level,” Delgado explained. “I'm very proud of the fact that I've been an educator for a bulk of my career. I think it gives me a really unique perspective. I understand teachers. I understand what teachers struggle with and what they celebrate, and what their experience is like.”
It was as a teacher that Delgado saw firsthand the importance of having a positive and inclusive culture for all students.
“In order to really have a successful classroom environment, you need to know your students, their families, and their situations,” she said. “There are no formulas in teaching and education. We're dealing with real lives, real children and families, and real teachers and their experiences.”
Delgado continued, “Everybody comes with a different set of knowledge and strengths, and all families want what is right for their kids. They want what's best for their children and it's really important that we design ways to make that possible. That doesn't happen unless we're good listeners. We need to understand and think beyond just our own perspectives.”
For as much as Delgado plans to listen, she will also prioritize communication.
“It goes a very, very long way to listen and care,” she said. “But you also have to be really transparent with your communication up front. The more transparent you can be, the more open your communication can be.”
As she prepares for a new role in a new district, Delgado knows that balancing her administrative duties and spending time in Genseo’s schools to get to know its leaders and teachers will be a challenge.
“I’ll be intentional about it, making planned visits to our buildings with administrators and other school personnel, as well as informal visits where I'm popping into classrooms and saying hello or sitting in the lunchroom,” shared Delgado. “If I don't do that, then I don't have a pulse on what's happening in the schools and I can't lead as effectively.”
While being superintendent puts Delgado at the top of the school district’s hierarchy, she knows she won’t be the only leader in the district. As she explained, she looks forward to working collaboratively and knowing she can confidently rely on others through distributed leadership.
“There's no way I'm the best at everything, right?” said Delgado. “A tenet of mine is to empower people to do the great work that I know that they can do. Our system will never be reliant on one person. It will be from within through the strengths of teams and the people that we have in our systems to lift and support one another.”
Though her time in Geneseo has been brief, that will soon change as she continues getting to know the community, its schools, its staff and its students.
Delgado was on hand at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting and she is already planning to meet with various administrators and stakeholders prior to her official start date of July 1.
“I'm very committed and very excited to integrate into the Geneseo School District, and community is very, very important to me,” said Delgado. “I look forward to getting to know the community inside and outside of the school district, and celebrating all of the successes in Geneseo. The more we can help the community reach its goals of leveling up its excellence, the more we will move forward and prepare students for a successful future.”
Related story: Geneseo hires Delgado as next superintendent (April 4, 2025)
