St Cornelius principal will leave at end of school year for position in suburban school district
by BRIAN NADIG
Saint Cornelius School principal Christina Bowman will be leaving her post at the end of the school year to become an administrator for a suburban school district in Des Plaines.
Saint Cornelius. 5252 N. Long Ave., is one of four schools that joined the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Northwest Side consolidation plan, and it is not known if the Saint Cornelius campus will remain open beyond the 2015-16 school year. The other schools are Saint Tarcissus, Our Lady of Victory and Saint Pascal, and an archdiocese official has said that at least two campuses would have to close for the plan to make sense.
“Mrs. Bowman has done a terrific job as our school administrator; she will be sorely missed,” Saint Cornelius pastor the Reverend Dan Fallon wrote in a March 17 letter to the parish. “Further, I need to tell you that her decision is not a result of the regional plan, but a desire for a position that affords her more quality time with her family.
“Mrs. Bowman assures me that she is very enthusiastic about the plan and has offered to assist us over the summer to move the plan forward, while allowing a smooth transition from her administration to that of her successor. I am most grateful to Mrs. Bowman for the services she has given to our community.”
Next month the school will be start a search for her replacement. “This will be a bit strange because the regional plan guarantees our principal only one year of employment, but the Office for Catholic Schools has promised to help us by steering qualified candidates for the position in our direction,” Fallon wrote.
Bowman has accepted a position as curriculum coordinator for Community Consolidated School District 62. Bowman replaced longtime Saint Cornelius principal Marge Campbell, who retired 5 years ago.
“This school has become more than just a school community I serve,” Bowman wrote in a letter to school families. “It has become a family: a family that has celebrated many joys together, a family that has mourned many sad times and, most importantly, a family that has overcome many challenges.
“Over the last few years so many memories have been made, which I will cherish forever.” She said that one of those memories was the school winning a national recycling challenge.
The archdiocese plans to announce a decision this fall on which school campuses would remain open as part of the consolidation project.
