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Dec. 16, 2025 Phone:                                                                                                               847-888-5000, ext. 5300

ELGIN - On Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, the U-46 Board of Education promoted three internal candidates to new leadership roles within the district for the 2026-27 school year.

William J. Johnson, currently the executive director of high schools, will be assuming the role of assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. He will take the role for the 2026-27 school year, following the retirement of Brian Tennison, who has been with the district since the 2021-22 school year.

Ellis Middle School Principal Nicholas Baird has been selected to be the first principal of Legacy Middle School, which is currently under construction in Elgin. Baird has been in U-46 his entire educational career and is a U-46 graduate.

Cody Papp has been selected as the principal of Illinois Park Elementary School, where she once was an early childhood special education teacher. She will assume leadership of the school for the 2026-27 school year when it transitions from an early childhood center into an elementary school.

For more biographical details, see below. 

William Johnson - Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning

During his nearly 20-year career in education, William Johnson’s forward-looking approach — featuring innovative educational programs for students, impactful professional development opportunities for staff, and a decision-making process using an equity lens — has resulted in improved student outcomes.

Since 2024, Johnson served as U-46’s executive director of high schools. He has led implementation of the U-46 Strategic Plan at the high school level, translating district goals into actionable, measurable outcomes. Johnson also established structures for regular instructional walkthroughs, conducted data reviews to monitor fidelity of curriculum implementation, and identified professional learning needs and network priorities. In his role, he also coached and evaluated high school principals to strengthen instructional leadership, with an emphasis on continuous improvement cycles, effective feedback loops, and implementation of the Instructional Clarity Framework.

From 2021-2024, he served as the principal of Marlowe Middle School in Huntley Community School District 158. There, he led significant improvements in student performance and school culture. From 2018-2021, Johnson was the director of that district’s curriculum and instruction for grades 6-12.

In Plainfield School District 202, Johnson served as the division chair of World Languages, Fine Arts, Business and Family and Consumer Science from 2014 to 2018, and as a Spanish teacher for eight years before that.

In addition to his educational career, Johnson served in the United States Army Reserve as a Master Sergeant: Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge from 2003-2024. His duties included overseeing strategic intelligence missions, the design, planning, and implementation of training, and providing actionable intelligence to national defense entities. His deployments included countries in the Middle East and Latin America. His military career underscores his strengths in leadership, strategic planning, and operational excellence.

Johnson earned his Bachelor of Arts in International Business and Spanish from North Central College. He holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Saint Xavier University and a master’s in educational leadership from Lewis University. Johnson is working on his Doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Nicholas Baird - Principal of Legacy Middle School

With nearly 18 years of experience in education, Nicholas Baird is committed to promoting academic success and providing social and emotional support for all students. Baird has been in U-46 his entire educational career and is a U-46 graduate.

For the 2026-27 school year, Baird will be based out of the current Ellis and Abbott middle schools while Legacy is under construction.

Since 2024, Baird has served as the principal at Ellis Middle School. His priority has been to grow social-emotional learning, culturally responsive teaching, and create a respectful educational space. Baird established a culture of utilizing restorative practices with students and staff, which in turn helped the staff at Ellis work to reduce student discipline referrals, decrease out-of-school-suspension days, and decrease the number of chronically absent students by establishing building attendance norms. Also, while under his leadership, Ellis’ state report card rating improved from “comprehensive” to “commendable.” Prior to being named principal, Baird served as the assistant principal at Ellis Middle School from 2017 to 2024.

Before joining Ellis, Baird worked at Streamwood High School for nearly a decade. He was a dean of students from 2013 to 2017, a special education teacher from 2011 to 2013, and an in-school intervention coordinator from 2008 to 2010. Baird is known as a leader who is never too busy to answer questions, visit a classroom, or lend professional support to staff.

Baird earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a second bachelor’s degree in political science, both at Northern Illinois University. He also earned a master’s degree in educational leadership at Concordia University.

Cody Papp - Principal of Illinois Park Elementary School

As assistant principal at Sunnydale Elementary School for the past two years, Cody Papp supports the long-term vision and day-to-day operations of a building that includes dual language, gifted, and self-contained special education programs. She oversees Specialized Student Services for over 115 students, ensuring compliance and alignment with best practices. Her role involves frequent instructional coaching, leading 45-day school improvement cycles grounded in data from i-Ready, IAR, Panorama, and 5Essentials, and collaborating on MTSS implementation across all tiers.

Her experience also includes extensive work in early childhood education and special education, as well as roles on district-level committees. She led initiatives to increase school attendance, developed a school-wide math fluency competition, created a monthly parent newsletter to promote engagement, and secured community resources to support and celebrate students. These efforts reflect her belief in the importance of inclusive leadership, data-informed decision-making, and strong family-school-community partnerships.

Papp was hired at Illinois Park Center for Early Childhood in 2019, and she taught there for two years before joining U-46’s Resident Administrator program, working at Ontarioville Elementary School. Before joining U-46, Papp also taught in Schaumburg School District 54, at Marklund Day School, and West Chicago Elementary School District 33.

Papp holds a bachelor’s degree in hotel & restaurant administration from the University of Central Missouri. She received her master’s degree in early childhood special education from Elmhurst College and a master’s in educational administration from Northern Illinois University.

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 School District U-46 serves families in 11 communities: Bartlett, Elgin, Hanover Park, South Elgin, Streamwood and Wayne, as well as portions of Carol Stream, Hoffman Estates, St. Charles, Schaumburg, and West Chicago. In total, the district encompasses 90 square miles within the Fox River Valley, approximately 45 minutes northwest of downtown Chicago, and includes communities within Cook, DuPage and Kane counties. Thirty-three thousand preschoolers through twelfth graders attend the 56 district schools and programs. To learn more, visit the U-46 website, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.