The Urbana Board of Education has approved the appointments of the Executive Director of Leadership Development, the Urbana Early Childhood School Principal and the Dual Language School Principal.
Dr. Laura Taylor is coming home to Urbana School District, where she began her administrative career and attended school. Dr. Taylor will serve as the Executive Director of Leadership Development, primarily supporting and evaluating building principals.
Dr. Taylor is currently Deputy Superintendent at Champaign Unit 4, a role she has held for 12 years. While in this position, she has played an integral part in dozens of district level leadership initiatives and provided direct supervision and support to 18 principals.
Previously, Dr. Taylor was an adjunct instructor at the University of Illinois and served as principal and associate principal at Urbana High School.
Dr. Taylor holds a Doctorate in Educational Administration and an advanced degree for her superintendent endorsement from the University of Illinois. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education and a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography.
Dr. Taylor is excited to come back to District #116 and serve the Urbana community.
Ms. Patricia Valente was named the first principal of the Urbana Dual Language School. Valente has a rich background in education, particularly in the realm of multilingual and multicultural instruction.
She is currently the Multilingual & Multicultural Director at Rantoul City Schools. Prior to this role, she served as a multilingual teacher or instructor in several school districts and Universities, including Waukegan, Barrington, McLean County Unit 5, Illinois State University and Millikin University.
Valente holds a Master’s Degree in P-12 administration from Illinois State University, with a specialization in multilingual education and a Bachelor’s Degree in teaching. She has also contributed extensively to educational literature.
Ms. Katie Madigan will serve as the next principal of Urbana Early Childhood School (UECS). Madigan currently serves as the Assistant Principal at UECS and Elementary Special Education Facilitator. She has served in these roles for the past four years. Prior to that, Madigan spent three years as a speech language pathologist at UECS.
Madigan’s other roles include Pre-K Coordinator and clinical supervisor for graduate students in the Speech-Language Pathology clinic at the University of Illinois.
Madigan has a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Eastern Illinois University, a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Illinois State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northwestern University.
Madigan is an avid volunteer, serving on multiple PTAs and volunteering in her community for the Junior League of Champaign Urbana, the United Way, Crisis Nursery, Carle Hospital, and Moms Demand Action.
The Urbana School District welcomes these educational leaders to their new positions.
