Following a month-long search, Brookfield-Lyons District 103 at its meeting April 14 named Michael Kent the new principal for George Washington Middle School.

District 103 Superintendent Michael Warner said the district had fielded roughly 50 applications for the job, which came open when Robert Hildreth announced his resignation in late February. Hildreth was named principal of the middle school three years ago.

Six applicants were interviewed on April 5 by a team of 14 people, including District 103 administrators and staff members from George Washington Middle School. From that group, two finalists were chosen. Kent was “the best fit for the school by virtue of his skills and background,” according to Warner.

“One of the first things he’ll bring is stability,” said Warner. “He’s going to be there to work with students and staff in the long term. He’s also tuned into student safety and discipline, which are things the board is also interested in focusing on.”

Kent, 55, comes to District 103 from Unity Junior High, a massive two-campus school complex in Cicero that serves 2,600 seventh- and eighth-graders. Kent is an administrative assistant at Unity Middle School, a title that belies his responsibility there.

As an administrative assistant, Kent is responsible for a floor of 350 students and 20 teachers. He is involved in every aspect of school life on that floor. There are eight administrative assistants at Unity, which is expected to change the title of the job to assistant principal next year.

“Unity is the biggest junior high in the United States,” said Kent. “Administrative assistants run a school within a school.”

When he arrived at Unity three years ago, Kent was the third administrative assistant in three years for his floor at Unity Junior High, which had a student discipline issue.

“I set rules and boundaries for students, but there were also positive rewards. I think I also did a good job improving the morale of the teachers on my floor and encouraged teamwork and cooperation.”

Prior to working at Unity Junior High, Kent was an assistant principal at an elementary school in Cicero District 99, and has worked previously for 11 years as a middle school and upper elementary level teacher in the Chicago Public School system.

Kent said the new position was attractive to him for a number of reasons, including the opportunity to continue working with a diverse student body. Unity Junior High is 95 percent Hispanic. District 103 in general has a growing Hispanic student population. Since 2000, the Hispanic population in the district has climbed from 16 percent to 56 percent.

Kent will be paid $85,000 in his first year at the helm of GWMS. That’s an increase from Hildreth’s salary, which was $76,500 in 2007, according to The Champion, a watchdog group that tracks Illinois teacher salaries annually.

His first official day on the job will be July 1. However, Kent will be at GWMS all day on May 7 to get acquainted with students and staff at the school.