New Morris Elementary Superintendent preparing for upcoming school year

Morris Elementary School has a new superintendent, and she’s not a new face to the district: Dr. Marie Stover, who started as Director of Student Services nine years ago.

During that time, she oversaw special education, preschool and multilingual programming, and she eventually became responsible for grant writing in the district, which became an especially important responsibility during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stover said former Superintendent Shannon Dudek, who recently left for a Superintendent job with Wood Dale Elementary, and the Board of Education encouraged her to to pursue her doctorate in educational leadership, which she obtained in 2020. After that, she became Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, which gave her greater responsibilities and allowed her to be more involved in the community.

It’s my goal to elevate the school district to that next level," Stover said. “Whether it be academics, or social, emotional, or just school safety. What can we do to bring Morris District 45 and our families, kids and communities up. I want to continue building everyone up.”

Stover lives in Morris with her husband, and she’s gotten more involved in community organizations since she started with Morris Elementary. She serves on the Advisory Council for NAMI of Will and Grundy County and an Illinois Emergency Management Agency committee for best practices for school safety.

“I want to see how we can foster more partnerships with some community agencies so we can share more resources with our students and families,” Stover said.

Stover said that most importantly, though, she wants to make Morris Elementary a place where everyone is excited to come to school.