Tim Dohrer, the Winnetka campus principal since 2009, will be resigning this July as he takes a new job at Northwestern University.
He will be taking a position as the Director of Teacher Education at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy. According to a press release from Feb 20, Dohrer will officially resign July 1 and the District will immediately begin looking for his replacement.
“Tim has been a tireless supporter of New Trier and a valuable leader in a number of roles for more than 20 years,” said Dr. Linda Yonke, District 203 Superintendent in the press release. “We will miss his leadership, his enthusiasm, and his devotion to the school. While his departure is a loss to New Trier, it is a gain to the teaching profession as he helps train the next generation of teachers at Northwestern University.”
Mary Timko, Dohrer’s secretary, said that although it is sad to see him go, she could not be happier for him.
“It’s an amazing opportunity and well deserved,” she said. “It’s been a privilege for me to work for him.”
In addition to being Northwestern’s Director of Teacher Education, Dohrer will also oversee NU’s teacher certification programs and will direct the school’s Master of Science in Education.
“I love working with teachers on becoming better,” he said. “This is a chance to really focus on that all day long. If I can be a role model and an influence on a generation of new teachers, that will be a wonderful legacy for me.”
Dohrer said that his new job at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy will be something similar to that of a department chair at New Trier.
He expressed that the wide array of work he has done at New Trier as a teacher, department chair, and administrator will prepare him well for what is to come, and he will never forget his time at the high school.
He said that some of his fondest memories at New Trier were being an American Studies teacher, working as an adviser, creating the Senior Writer’s Seminar class, and helping construct the curriculum of the Northfield campus when it first opened as a freshman campus.
But the pinnacle of his New Trier career, he said, was serving as principal for the last five years.
“I’ve joked it’s like being the captain of the Starship Enterprise,” he said. “There’s a reason why Kirk never wanted to leave that chair. To have served the students, parents and staff of what I believe to be the greatest high school in the country is a gigantic honor, nothing will compare to that.”
One of the aspects of being principal that Dohrer said he loved the most was having the opportunity to connect with the students. Besides managing time wisely, Dohrer expressed that the most crucial advice he would give his successor would be to be available to his/her students.
To illustrate, Dohrer is the kind of principal who jumps into the pool with the swim team and coach after they win a state competition.
“It’s probably impossible to know all 3100 students, but if they get to know you that’s going to be the best thing,” he said. “Those relationships are number one the most important thing.”
Dohrer said the hardest thing about leaving New Trier will be leaving the place where he’s worked for so long and met so many good people.
“That’s what makes thinking about leaving really hard, but we have to follow our passions.”
The idea of moving on is something Dohrer touched on in an email he sent out to the Winnetka campus student body.
“I hope you all can follow your dreams and passions as I have,” he said. “Remember that wherever we go, we will always be Trevians.”