Jessica Santee

Jessica Santee, Superintendent of Glenbard High School District 87, brings 25 years of education experience to district leadership. Her approach centers on continuous improvement, shared ownership, student belonging, career exploration and the creation of opportunities for educators and students to learn, grow and find purpose.

For Jessica Santee, education leadership has always been connected to the classroom. After 16 years of teaching students across different levels and backgrounds, she moved through department and curriculum leadership and principal roles before becoming Superintendent of Glenbard High School District 87.

She says she is “very much and always will be a teacher,” and that experience continues to shape who she is as a leader. She thinks about students’ learning and engagement, and the work required to be a successful teacher. Those considerations keep positive school culture and student achievement at the forefront.

“That experience of being in the classroom, teaching all levels of students, all students of different backgrounds, shapes who I am as a leader all the time,” says Jessica Santee, Superintendent of Glenbard High School District 87.

Making Growth Possible

Santee stepped into a district that valued continuous improvement, but she believes that maintaining it requires an intentional, active approach. Leaders come together with shared, equal voices to diagnose a situation, make a plan, try it, assess whether it is working, and adjust when necessary. She describes that shared approach as collective efficacy, with leaders sharing ownership and believing they can make a difference together.

Weekly principal meetings, professional learning and the district’s “Profile of an Educator” and “Profile of a Graduate” support that approach, connecting educator expectations with the district’s mission and evaluation system.

Santee’s strategic work plan is rooted in three pillars: belonging and connectedness, learning and success, and passion and purpose. Belonging is the foundation, providing students with spaces where they feel psychologically safe to take intellectual risks. An equity mindset means embracing diversity, recognizing barriers, ensuring every student is involved, and treating multilingualism as an asset.

Learning and success build on that foundation. At the top is passion and purpose, extending success beyond graduation. For Santee, success is “how successful you are after you leave us, not just crossing the stage.”

“ That experience of being in the classroom, teaching all levels of students, all students of different backgrounds, shapes who I am as a leader all the time. “

That belief shapes how she prepares students for what comes next. Individualized postsecondary planning, dual credit and career experiences help students understand their options. Speakers, field trips and internships give them a better sense of what different careers are actually like.

Santee also recognizes that educators need that exposure. Many teachers have been teaching for 20 years and may not be aware of the range of careers available today. The district is helping educators learn about current careers so they can bring that knowledge into their curriculum and conversations with students.

Leading Through Change

During her first year as superintendent, a transportation provider underwent restructuring and could no longer provide busing, affecting more than 120 routes a day. Santee worked with her team to find a solution while communicating with stakeholders.

She also went to the bus depot to speak with drivers who had driven Glenbard students for years. They wanted answers, but Santee did not have all of them yet. She said so and gave them a timeframe for when she would. The experience reinforced the importance of balancing operational details with clear communication during uncertainty. Because of her honesty and willingness to admit not having all the answers, a catastrophic driver exodus during the crisis was adverted.

That balance has also mattered as Glenbard moves through its largest construction projects following a 2024 referendum. Different perspectives and questions about pace and timing made the work challenging. Santee worked with project partners to establish communication, systems and checks and balances. The projects are now up and running, but the work continues as the district navigates construction celebrations and challenges.

She remembers how nervous she was entering her first classroom. Today, she speaks in front of thousands of people, a possibility she says she could not have imagined 25 years ago. That experience shapes her advice to emerging leaders: “Allow yourself to grow into what’s possible.”

Leadership, she says, is not a job one person can do alone. No single leader is responsible for an entire organization’s success. It requires a strong team that works together, leans on one another and grows together.