By Dee Longfellow
For The Addison Independent
At the April 26 Board of Education meeting, District 88 Board of Education President Donna Craft Cain recommended that the Board take action to appoint Interim Superintendent Dr. Jean Barbanente as the district’s new Superintendent.
“As we reflect on this past year, it’s difficult to not be overwhelmed by the amount of hardships we have all faced,” Cain said in a message prior to the meeting. “From the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; to social unrest; to losing a true leader, education ambassador and friend in our Superintendent Dr. Scott Helton, this has been a surreal and devastating year to say the least.
“Without hesitation, Dr. Barbanente stepped up to lead the district during one of the most challenging and unprecedented times in public education and in our history. She not only continued with the duties of her position as Assistant Superintendent, but she took on the role of Interim Superintendent as well.”
Dr. Barbanente has been with District 88 for more than 25 years and worked side by side with Superintendents Dr. Helton and Dr. Steve Humphrey, Cain said.
“I have every confidence she will maintain the tradition of excellence that has been established here at District 88, as she has a consistent record of increasing rigorous academic opportunities for students, expanding social-emotional supports, cultivating inclusive environments at our schools, building strong stakeholder partnerships/relationships and championing equity,” she said. “Our vision at District 88 is to prepare students to be college, career and culturally ready, and Dr. Barbanente has been at the core of that work. She co-facilitates the DuPage County Equity and Excellence Committee and implemented our efforts with equity, culturally responsive teaching, trauma-informed practices and restorative practices. She also helped develop the District 88 C.A.R.E. Team (Committed to Academics, Resiliency and Equity).
“At District 88, we are proud to have a diverse school community – we have about 40 languages and more than 30 countries represented among our families, and almost half of the nearly 4,000 students at District 88 speak a language other than English at home. Dr. Barbanente truly embraces and welcomes this diversity and advocates to support all of our students, staff and community members, and she would be the first District 88 Superintendent to speak multiple languages (English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese).”
More about Dr. Barbanente
Dr. Barbanente also serves on the Illinois Advisory Council for Bilingual Education and is a member of the Village of Addison Sister Cities program with Triggiano, Italy, where Addison hosts students from Triggiano, and Addison Trail students travel to Italy.
She joined District 88 in 1995 as a member of the World Language Department at Addison Trail, where she taught Italian and Spanish. In 2002, Dr. Barbanente transitioned to her first leadership role in District 88 as she took on the position of Director of Guidance at Addison Trail. In 2006, she was named as Director of Learning Services and was later appointed as assistant superintendent and has since provided leadership in the areas of teaching, learning, human resources, compliance, equity, special education and Pupil Personnel Services (PPS).
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis on teaching Italian and Spanish from Dominican University (Rosary College), Dr. Barbanente earned her Master of Arts in Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with ESL and Bilingual Concentration from National Louis University. She completed her Administrative and Superintendent Licensure program at Concordia University and received her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Aurora University, concentrating her research efforts in leadership for equity.
Dr. Barbanente and her husband, Anthony, have two college-aged children and two dogs. The family enjoy traveling and participating in international missions and youth trips.
“Dr. Barbanente would be District 88’s first female Superintendent,” Cain noted. “With her extensive background, knowledge and passion, I know Dr. Barbanente will help lead our district to accomplish our mission of working for the continuous improvement of student achievement.”
