Over winter break H-F decided on the new principal for the 2022-23 school year. Clinton Alexander, current principal of Hillcrest High School, will start as H-F’s new principal this June.

H-F’s year-long interview process was extensive. 

“The interview process was facilitated by a national recruiting firm called BWP & Associates,” said Scott Wakely. The Board of Education made the decision to use an outside search firm which has been the practice at H-F for years going back.

That Association then put out a public ad for the position as well as a general survey for the community to tell what characteristics they looked for in a principal. After they compiled all of this information they put it into a principal profile and each candidate was measured against this file. 

“Out of the group of eight candidates we conducted another longer interview that included myself, Dr. Von Mansfield and Dr. James Mitchem. Following our interviews we cut the group down to 2 finalists,” said Wakely.

The students were also a part of the decision-making process.

 “The 2 final candidates went through an additional interview process that included students, teachers & staff, administrators, parents and community members,” said Wakely.

English teacher Leah Sauvage explains the interview process from a teacher’s perspective. She first explained what she was looking for in each candidate.

“In each of the candidates, I was looking for someone who is a clear communicator and who is willing to dialogue with their staff,” said Sauvage 

Towards the end of the interview “Mr. Alexander asked what the staff and faculty needed from him if he were to become principal, showing that he knew an open dialogue was the best way to support the staff and students of H-F,” said Sauvage.

In the end, the H-F school board and school leadership decided that Alexander was a good fit for the job.

Alexander has more than enough experience under his belt. He has previously been employed by Country Club Hills as Principal, Rich Township as Associate of Operations and Bloom Township as an English Teacher.

As there are several schools to work at in the South Suburbs Alexander explained what made him choose to apply here. 

“H-F has been a symbol of academic excellence for decades. Once the opportunity presented itself, I knew I wanted to be a part of such a rich tradition,” said Alexander.

Alexander will officially be starting in June but he went into detail about what plans he has for the fall. “The first thing I plan to do is build relationships with our students, faculty and staff. I envision us working together to provide our students with the most comprehensive and enriching learning experience imaginable,”. 

Alexander explains how he hopes the future will go. “I am looking forward to hearing their feedback regarding how we can make H-F an even greater place to learn and develop 21st-century skills”.