Incoming superintendent outlines his plans for Hononegah

Ehren Jarrett is returning to Hononegah Community High School, starting in his new position on July 1, 2025.

The public was invited to meet Dr. Jarrett and to hear his vision for Hononegah on May 12 at the Roscoe Township Community Center.

Board of Education President Dave Kurlinkus opened by saying, “We are approaching the end of kind of a long journey. We knew ahead of time that this was going to be Mike Dugan’s last year of his eight-year tenure. He didn’t want an extension to his contract, and he was going to retire.”

“We spent a lot of time thinking about what we were going to do regarding superintendents. We looked at alternatives. We went about our business, and that didn’t go on the front burner. At that time, we heard that the Superintendent in District #205 wasn't renewing his contract.”

Once Jarrett learned that Superintendent Dugan wasn't renewing his contract, he reached out to Kurlinkus, who then shared the news with the board.

“This is the fourth time we have hired him. I was told, “You need to have someone at Hononegah as much as Hononegah wants them,” Kurlinkus said.

“He has always been on the edge of whatever educational improvements are. He knows what the expectations are at Hononegah.”

His dad, Dr. Jarrett, was the doctor for Hononegah football.

“I think it is a good fit. I was hoping we would have more people here tonight, maybe even some of the people who thought this was more of a justification. Hononegah is going to go no place but up. We have a good group, and we have a good leader.

“What we control is that we are here, we are available.”

Kurlinkus introduced Dr. Jarrett.

“I was thinking on the car ride up, “When people start a new job they say, ‘I am happy to be here.’ I am really happy to be here at Hononegah, and I thought about why this is where I want to be at this stage of my life,”Jarrett said.

“For me it started with a few things.

“It started, first and foremost, when I had a conversation with my former superintendent and mentor, Lynn Gibson, who advised that this might be a good time and something to consider.

“A bunch of memories came flooding back, and what a special place this is to me, and it was special to me when I was a child.

“Some of my greatest memories growing up were being in the stands, or behind the bleachers, or sometimes on the sidelines and watching some great football teams play in the 80’s and the 90’s and having a wonderful connection at an early age.

“Then, as kind of a dream come true, I got my first major teaching experience. I was a private school teacher for a few years and had a chance to come to Hononegah. It really changed my life.”

Jarrett began his 25-year career in public education:

At HCHS, he was both a social studies teacher and an assistant basketball coach from 2001-2004. After serving for a year as an assistant principal at Rockford East High School, he returned to Hononegah as the associate principal from 2005-2007 and as the building principal from 2007-2011.

“I coached with Mike Miller, who is very special to me. Josh Ballard was one of the players on my team, and I had a chance to work with Coach Z,” Jarrett said.

“Then the opportunity presented itself to come to Hononegah to become the high school Associate principal, with the possibility of learning under Judy Rigby, who was extremely organized, very impactful, and very effective as a Principal.

“She was a great mentor to me, and I was able to learn under her for two years. Then I became Hononegah’s Principal.

“As I thought about coming back, I thought about how special it is that I can be with a Board of Directors where I have a deep personal connection with. That is because of the connections we had through being a teacher at Hononegah.

“I think it is indicative of the way Hononegah is.

“Three of the seven board members were on the board when I was a teacher and the Principal.

“I looked at the faculty roster. There were probably 60 or 70 people, 15 years later, that I either hired or, in many cases, worked with who are still at Hononegah.

“I had a chance to spend time with HCHS Principal Chad Dougherty as we celebrated the retirement of Kelly Rosik, who trained multiple Hononegah Principals.

“Chad and I were proud to be in that group that Kelly helped keep in line as she trained us up.

“Every sign kept pointing to why this place is so special. It is the relationships and the retention. It's not like that in most places, but it is like that here.

“Hononegah is the place that has truly high expectations. It is a place that values our students.

“Whether it is the packed house of the fine arts festival, athletics, perfect scores on an ACT, or Top 50 rankings in the state, I love having a chance to be part of a place that prioritizes excellence, but excellence not just for excellence's sake but excellence done the right way where we are truly molding people to be even better and to build on the tradition of success.”

Jarrett added, “I look forward to being the superintendent, not because this is a turnaround situation, it is quite the opposite. I’m coming here to listen to this community and to reconnect. I will be spending my first 90 days of my time here very much doing the job of the superintendency.”

“I will be spending a lot of time at community events.

“We will be very targeted on what we choose for back to school events. I will be spending time talking to teachers, and staff.”

Jarrett fielded questions in the second part of the forum.