Journal & Topics Media Group

East Leyden Assistant Principal Tapped To Lead Niles West


Karen Ritter, who will serve as Niles West High School principal next year. (Niles High School Dist. 219 photo)

Niles Township High School Dist. 219 board members hired East Leyden High School Assistant Principal Karen Ritter to replace Jason Ness as the next Niles West High School principal.

Ritter begins her new role at West at the start of the new Dist. 219 fiscal year Monday, July 1. At the April 22 school board meeting, board members approved Ritter’s three-year contract with a starting annual salary of $170,750.

Ness has been principal at Niles West since July 2013. Dist. 219 officials released a written statement from Ness on his new role within the district.

“After much reflection, I have decided, for personal reasons, that, at the end of this 2018-19 school year, I intend to return to the role of school psychologist in D219. This will allow me to continue to serve the students and families of our district,” Ness said.

Ritter has been assistant principal for teaching and learning at East Leyden High School in Franklin Park since 2012. Dist. 219 officials said at Leyden, Ritter leads the school’s equity team, leads staff in professional development and has doubled student participation in the school’s advanced placement program in four years.

Before her time at East Leyden, Ritter was assistant principal of instruction at Mather High School in Chicago, and taught French at Taft High School in Chicago from 1996 to 2007. During the 1998-99 school year Ritter taught English to French-speaking high school students in Dakar, Senegal, after being named the recipient of a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program.

Ritter holds a Doctorate in education in administration and supervision from Loyola University in Chicago, where she also earned her superintendent endorsement. She earned her master’s degree in education in general administration and bachelor’s degree in secondary education and French from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Support local news by subscribing to the Journal & Topics in print or online.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.