On Monday, McHenry Community High School District 156 school board members endorsed the appointment of Greg Eiserman, Freshman Campus principal and longtime McHenry educator, to lead the 10-12 grade Upper Campus as principal next year.
Eiserman, a former assistant principal at Upper Campus, will replace Dr. Jeff Prickett, who will become the principal of Meadowview Elementary School in Grayslake for the 2025-26 school year. The Freshman Campus principal position is now accepting applications.
“Greg has increased academic achievement and attendance rates while fostering a collaborative and connective school community at the Freshman Campus,” said Dr. Ryan McTague, District 156 superintendent. “I am confident that Greg will bring that same sense of belonging and passion for academic excellence as the new leader of the Upper Campus.”
A McHenry High School graduate and former Spanish teacher, Eiserman, said that one of the first things he wants to do is meet with staff to determine the priorities for improvement. For him, a priority is supporting staff, who will in turn support students to help them succeed, Eiserman said.
“My job is to make our staff feel great,” he said. “That’s a big deal.”
One new project he started at Freshman Campus is Unit Zero, a program designed for the beginning of the year to help incoming freshmen “learn how to high school.” He has also implemented a Be Distinguished program to help ninth-graders stay on track to earn the Distinguished Warrior graduation honor. Both of those programs could be adapted for sophomores making the transition to Upper Campus, he said.
Returning to Upper Campus as principal will be somewhat full circle for Eiserman, a former West Campus graduate. Eiserman returned to McHenry after earning a bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and went on to teach Spanish for nearly 20 years.
He later became a department chair and then an assistant principal. He also has a master’s degree from Aurora University and an education specialist (Ed.S.) degree from Western Illinois University. Prior to his move to administration, he helped create and advise the Student Leadership Team and created Warrior Nation while advising the Student Council.
Eiserman said it will be a big switch to move to Upper Campus but he’s looking forward to the challenge. He’s planning to jump right into helping implement education strategies from the AVID elective program and improve ACT scores.
“The Freshman Campus is awesome,” Eiserman said. “It’s not an easy place to leave.”