Wredling Middle School’s former assistant principal returns to the classroom

Patrick McGuire missed being a teacher.

After serving as the assistant principal at Wredling Middle School since 2018, he said he decided to return to the classroom at the beginning of the school year. He’s now a seventh grade social studies teacher.

“One of the things that I truly missed was the direct impact of working with students in a classroom setting,” the Elburn resident said. “As an administrator, you are kind of working through teachers with initiatives and directives and those kinds of things. One of the things I really longed for was just the opportunity to work with students more directly and really see those light bulbs go off.”

His desire to go back to the classroom also was driven by the need to spend more time with his family. He has two young children.

However, he is not closing the door on being an administrator again.

“I want to keep my options open,” McGuire said. “There is a plan down the road when my kids get a little bit older to go back into that leadership role.”

McGuire previously taught at both Wredling and Fox Ridge in the St. Charles School District, along with being associate principal and athletic director at Woodbridge School District 68. This is the first year he has been back in the classroom since 2017, he said.

As part of his social studies classes, he talks to his students about current events, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One of his students has family members from Ukraine.

McGuire said he hopes his students learn to appreciate history.

“I want to make sure they have learned some perspectives and are able to apply them to different scenarios,” he said.

Wredling Principal Tim Loversky said he has appreciated McGuire’s dedication both as an administrator and a teacher.

“Whether in the classroom or office, Patrick has the ability to build strong relationships with students and families, which is a necessary skill for both teachers and administrators to possess,” Loversky said. “I also appreciate that he consistently views the decisions he has to make through the lens of what is best for students – 100% of the time. I know that while his kids are young, he wants to focus on being a dad, but that he plans to return to administration some day.”

The pandemic helped McGuire realize he wanted to go back into the classroom, he said.

“All the different parameters that we faced, that we kind of persevered through, it made me realize that I wanted to go back to something that I truly missed,” McGuire said.

He is proud of the dedication and commitment of the district’s teachers during the pandemic, McGuire said.

“The teachers’ commitment and dedication to students and learning never wavered,” McGuire said. “If anything, it grew stronger. ... They did a tremendous job of staying focused on students and learning and carrying out the curriculum.”

McGuire also commended students for their perseverance.

“Kids are resilient,” he said. “The learning modality may have been different for everybody, but, nonetheless, kids are still kids.”