Presenter Bio

Jack Baldermann

Jack Baldermann has led several school districts as superintendent and principal to significant student achievement gains over his twenty year career as an educational leader. Most recently as superintendent and principal at Riverside Brookfield High School, the school was recognized as one the most improved high schools in Illinois and the nation. During his eight years of leadership, AYP scores mandated by No Child Left Behind legislation substantially improved. Test scores for students in sub-groups were among the best and most improved in the state. The graduation rate improved from a ten-year average of 91% to an almost 99% graduation rate over the last six years, and this includes several years where the graduation rate for Hispanic and African-American students was 100%.

Jack led a team at Riverside Brookfield High School to build one of the most improved and top performing Advanced Placement programs in the country. During his time as leader, the school realized a 300% increase in the number of Advanced Placement Scholars and a 300% increase in the number of students passing A.P. exams. For the last four years (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) Jack’s leadership helped his school become recognized as one the top 150 High Schools in America by Newsweek magazine.

In 2009, Jack created and led a team of teachers, counselors, parents and students to achieve some the best and most improved test scores for Latino/Hispanic students in the history of Illinois. The PSAE meets and exceeds standards pass rate on the Reading Exam of 75% not only placed the students in the top 1% of high schools in Illinois for Latino/Hispanic student performance, but this pass rate was higher than the best overall score of 95% of the 650 public high schools in Illinois.

In his work as a mentor for principals and as a consultant for school districts, Jack has helped many districts in achieving significant increases in test scores and helped them to make AYP.  He has also worked collaboratively with his teams to create a variety of innovative programs that produce results.  He initiated positive changes at Carl Sandburg High School, a large, suburban learning environment. He also enjoyed success as the leader of several challenging urban schools.

Jack has led workshops and made presentations in over 35 different states and Canada on the implementation of Professional Learning Communities, Motivating Disengaged/Unmotivated Students, Increasing Graduation Rates, Student Achievement and Test Scores, Response to Intervention, Formative Assessment,  S.M.A.R.T. Goals, and Leadership Focused on Student Achievement Results.

Jack is currently pursuing a doctorate of education in educational leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He holds a Masters of Arts in educational administration from Saint Xavier University in Chicago, a masters of arts degree in English from Loyola University, and a bachelor of arts in political science and English from the University of Saint Francis in Joliet, Illinois.

A student-centered, compassionate and visionary leader, Jack excels in building teams that significantly improve the educational community and ensure that all students learn. He shares these proven, practical strategies with fellow practitioners in dynamic presentations infused with thought provoking wit and wisdom.

Before Jack served as superintendent and principal at Riverside Brookfield High School and “led the school to become perhaps the greatest success story in the state,” he was the principal at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois. While leading one of the largest high schools in the Mid-West to significant success, Jack and a team of 250 teachers helped the school achieve the highest tests scores in the school’s history, dramatically reduce the number of discipline incidents and implement many innovative programs. Prior to Carl Sandburg, Jack was the first Caucasian principal at Waterloo East High School in Iowa. Waterloo East has the distinction of having the first African-American high school principal in the history of the state of Iowa. When Jack arrived there was much tension and staff morale was low. By the end of his first year, Jack was recognized by the region’s newspaper as the top educational leader in the area. He has also served as the principal of Notre Dame High School –Chicago, as a teacher for the Chicago Public Schools and Marist High School -Chicago, and as teaching assistant at Loyola University.