Published: July 17, 2008 10:41 am      

Mellen announces her retirement

DANVILLE — Danville District 118 Superintendent Nanette Mellen added her name to the list of educators retiring at the end of the next school year.

Wednesday night, she announced her intentions to the school board.

“Having been connected to District 118 for more than 45 years, it is difficult to imagine my life without it,” she said.

“Good leaders leave good leaders behind, and I believe I will have done just that. I am choosing to leave District 118 at a time when we have both experienced leadership ready and qualified to lead, as well as a potential new leader eager to take on additional responsibility.”

She said she was grateful to have had the opportunity to spend her career in her hometown and “bloom where she was planted.”

“As I begin my 32nd year of my professional life, I believe as strongly in the importance of public education to our children as I did when I began teaching in 1974.”

Board members offered their congratulations.

“It’s been a good run, and I’m sure this year will be the same,” said board member Greg Hilleary.

Board President Randal Ashton called her announcement bittersweet, adding that he was saddened she would be leaving.

A member of the Danville High School class of 1970, Mellen attended Roselawn Elementary School and North Ridge Middle School. She graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in 1974 and obtained a master’s degree from the Uni-versity of Illinois in 1988. She obtained her Specialist in Educational Administration from Eastern Illinois University in 2003.

Her first job was being the first full-time physical education teacher at Liberty Elementary School, which was new that year.

In her time at the elementary level, she taught PE and second and fifth grades and served as a track coach, assistant basketball coach, cheerleading sponsor and spelling team coach.

After nine years of teaching, she was appointed athletic director at DHS in 1985. She received statewide recognition in the Chicago Tribune for being the first woman to serve as athletic director of a Class 6A school in Illinois. She became assistant principal at DHS in 1989, which was her first job as a district administrator.

During her time there, she chaired a closed campus initiative and acted as administrative coordinator of the renovation and construction project of the 1991 addition to the school.

In 1991, Superintendent David Fields appointed her to director of strategic planning and information services. In that position, she initiated the DHS Wall of Fame and developed long-range strategic plans for the district and improved the district’s communication and public relations policies.

Fields later asked Mellen to help cut $4.5 million from the district’s budget. Included in the plan was the elimination of her position.

She then became principal at Edison Elementary School in 1992.

In 1993, she became director of human resources for the district. In that position, she served as chief negotiator for the board of education and developed strong relationships with the Danville Education Association and the Local 399 Custodial Union.

She became DHS principal in 1996, where she initiated academic academies, including the Academy in Medical Sciences (AIMS), Manufacturing, Engineering, Robotics and Industrial Technology (MERIT) and Advancing Via Individual determination (AVID). She also implemented Night Owl classes, Young Women Aware and a student version of Crimestoppers.

She became associate superintendent under Gary Tucker in 2001, and was appointed superintendent July 1, 2004. She has achieved financial recognition for the district and expanded alternative education programming.

She is married to local attorney Tom Mellen and has three children: Alexander and Christopher White, who both live in Texas, and Elizabeth Mellen, a sophomore at the University of Kentucky; and two stepchildren: Dawn Mellen Dobbs of Clearwater, Fla., and Thomas B. Mellen of Cincinnati.

The Mellens expect their first grandchild in September.

Professional affiliations include commissioner of the City of Danville Police and Fire Board, board member of the Provena United Samaritans Medical Center Foundation, board member of the Danville Symphony Orchestra, a former president and current member of the Danville Noon Rotary, former executive committee member and current board member of Vermilion Advantage and member of the Executive Club of Danville.

She has been named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of America, a Golden Ruler Award winner, vice president of the board of directors for the Large Unit District Association for the State of Illinois, a member of the Illinois Association of School Administrators and member of the American Association of School Administrators.