Park View principal Kristie Mate will have a new role in the school district next school year: CCSD 89 Director of Teaching and Learning. Mate was unanimously approved by the Board of Education at Monday’s meeting.
Mate will take the place of Dr. Jill Kingsfield, who is retiring this year.
Mate has had leadership positions at both elementary and middle school during her career.
“I’m very excited Kristie will be joining the district-wide administrative team,” said CCSD 89 superintendent Doug Eccarius. “Kristie brings a wealth of administrative experience from middle and elementary school. She’s built strong relationships across the district, so I know she will work well with staff to lead the curriculum and instruction initiatives that ensure our students reach their full potential.”
Mate has been the principal at Park View since 2019. During her time at Park View, she has developed a strong building-wide culture for both students and staff. She has been part of the teacher evaluation committee and helped bring the online EvaluWise teacher evaluation system to CCSD 89. She has served on the CCSD 89 strategic plan, bond referendum, and contract negotiation committees.
“I’m looking forward to taking what I’ve learned at Park View and implementing it across the district,” Mate said. “I’m excited to continue working with teachers to improve the quality of instruction for our students.”
In 2022, Mate received the CCSD 89 Empowers Award for the quiet, generous, and extraordinary work she does to make the district a great place to learn.
Prior to joining Park View, Mate was the assistant principal for special education, then the assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Drauden Point Middle School in Plainfield.
During her six years at Drauden, Mate developed strong curriculum and instructional practices, organized special education programming, and ensured that all student disciplinary processes were also learning experiences. In 2017, she was named the Assistant Principal of the Year in the 3 Rivers Region by the Illinois Principals Association.
Mate has a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of St. Francis and a master's degree in special education from Lewis University. She has teaching certifications in administration and as a learning behavior specialist. She earned her bachelor’s degree in family and consumer science from Bradley University.
It was during her time at Bradley that she began mentoring students and realized she wanted to work in education. She started her first teaching job as a middle school special-education teacher one year later.