McHenry High School principal named Illinois High School Principal of the Year

McHenry High School’s Jeff Prickett was named this year’s Illinois High School Principal of the Year Thursday during a surprise and socially distanced ceremony at East Campus in McHenry.

Prickett has been principal of McHenry High School’s East Campus since 2017 and earned the recognition for the “positive impact he’s made on students, families and the community, particularly in light of a worldwide health pandemic,” according to a news release from McHenry High School District 156.

Officials from the Horace Mann Educators Association and the Illinois Principals Association, who made the joint announcement during Thursday’s ceremony, cited Prickett’s work advocating for children, creating a positive school environment and working to improve student achievement as some of the reasons that Prickett stood out as a principal.

Prickett was selected as Illinois High School Principal of the Year from a pool of nominees from the 21 regions of the Illinois Principals Association. He will also be recognized at the association’s Education Leaders Annual Conference in October.

Next year, Prickett will become the principal overseeing the reimagined McHenry High School, which is set to become one high school with two campuses instead of two separate schools.

Superintendent Ryan McTague called Prickett “a strong student advocate” in a news release, adding, “His extraordinary connection and relationship to our students, parents, and staff is reflected in the strong sense of community and culture he helped to create at East Campus over his tenure.”

One initiative Prickett started this year was a Warrior EDU podcast, in which he and science instructor Leah Pelletier interview educators and staff members about learning happening in the schools each day.

Prickett has spent 17 years as a principal, one year as an assistant principal and one year as a dean. He was named the Illinois Principals Association’s Kishwaukee Region Middle School Principal of the Year in 2016 during his time as principal at Richard F. Bernotas Middle School in Crystal Lake and was named a Golden Apple Stanley C. Golder Leadership Award Finalist in 2017.