Michael Zeman will be starting as the new principal of Longwood Elementary School in Naperville on July 1 after his hire was unanimously approved by the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education on Monday.
Currently, Zeman is the principal of Centennial Elementary School in Plano Community Unit School District 88, a position he has been in since 2017, according to information provided by Indian Prairie School District.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity,” Zeman said after the vote. “After having met even more members of the staff, I couldn’t be more excited to get started.”
Before becoming principal at Centennial Elementary, Zeman served as the assistant principal and athletic director at Plano Middle School in Plano for four years and, before that, as a teacher at La Grange Highlands Middle School in La Grange for eight years, according to district officials.
Zeman earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from National-Louis University.
The Indian Prairie School District Board of Education also voted unanimously to approve the hire of Patrick Raleigh as the assistant principal of Gregory Middle School.
Raleigh will be filling a vacancy at the school and will start on July 1, according to District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley. He said Raleigh is currently the director of educational services at Kaneland School District 302, and he has previously worked as a principal and as a teacher of third, sixth and seventh grades.
“He has expressed a strong interest of working in District 204,” Talley said at the meeting.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
