It was recently announced that Waterloo High School Principal Lori Costello will be stepping away from the school as she takes over the role of regional superintendent of schools for St. Clair County.

Costello will officially be leaving the Waterloo district at the end of the calendar year, stepping into her new role in St. Clair County on Jan. 1, 2024.

Costello is originally from Smithton but has worked in Waterloo for the entirety of her 23-year education career.

Having most recently served as WHS principal for 10 years, she came into the school as a business teacher for six years before moving into the assistant principal position.

As Costello recalled, she didn’t originally intend to go into education and instead took a rather unique career path, originally attending Illinois State University to earn a bachelor’s degree in finance.

Seven years later, Costello found she didn’t quite care for business and decided to join several other family members in the world of teaching.

“I have a family of educators,” Costello said. “My grandmother, my mother, my mother-in-law, we have a long list of educators in our family. So I decided to go back.”

The wife of Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II, a former state representative, her mother-in-law is former Southwestern Illinois College President Georgia Costello. 

Lori received her teaching certification from McKendree University along with a degree in business education. Four years later, she returned to get her master’s degree in education leadership.

Her additional credentials – acquired throughout her time teaching – include a Chief Business School Official Endorsement and Superintendent’s Endorsement from the University of Illinois in Springfield.

Lori offered some further perspective regarding her career development and progression.

“When you go to college, you’re really not sure what you want to do,” she said. “When you get a little bit older, you start to realize what things are important in life. Being able to give back to the community and educating our next generation became important to me, and that’s when I decided to go back and get my teaching degree. I also at that point had two children, so I understood how important a quality education was for our youth.”

Lori said she deeply enjoyed working as a teacher, though she found herself drawn to administrative work as job openings came up and she considered taking on new challenges in academia.

Lori said she took great satisfaction in her work at WHS, with her many colleagues as well as students and parents being a pleasure to work with.

“It’s been an honor to be a part of such a wonderful district and community like Waterloo,” she said. “I’ve spent 23 years here, and this district has amazing teachers, staff, parents. All of those have made this job so much easier for me.”

Looking back on her time with the school, she noted the COVID-19 pandemic was undoubtedly the biggest issue WHS faced during her tenure.

Operating the high school with all the students at home, she said, was an incredible challenge. She praised the work of faculty and staff in the years since as they have strived to recover from the learning loss, and she said it seems as though students and faculty alike have emerged from the pandemic.

The outgoing WHS principal also noted the shortage in teachers that many other schools have similarly been affected by.

She further made mention of the development and implementation of curricula to align with common-core standards.

Lori emphasized that the success of the high school is thanks to the staff, faculty and parents in the district over the years.

Concerning her coming departure from the school, Lori confirmed as of Tuesday evening that she had tendered her resignation to the Waterloo School Board.

She said that she took interest in the St. Clair County regional superintendent position when she heard current superintendent Mark Eichenlaub is scheduled to retire Nov. 30.

Having attended schools in St. Clair County, she hopes to continue her goal of ensuring a quality education for students.

“I think I’m looking to continue to give back to communities, and obviously there’s no better way to do that than educating our youth, but I’m looking forward to working with different superintendents, working with different students, with teachers in the various districts in St. Clair County,” Lori said. “Just ensure that students in St. Clair County continue to have access to the high-quality education.”

Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron shared his thoughts on Costello’s departure.

“I’m very happy for her,” Charron said. “I think this is a great opportunity for professional advancement for her and very well-deserved. She has a lot of respect for how school buildings and school districts should be run. I think this new position for her, the new responsibilities will come very naturally for her.”

Charron noted the mid-year vacancy poses something of a problem for the high school and school board, though he expressed confidence in the school’s staff to keep things running smoothly as the position is filled.

“It is often difficult to fill those positions in the middle of the year, but we have very talented people at the high school now who I think are capable of holding down the fort, you could say, while we make plans for filling that position,” Charron said.

Lori said she will greatly miss the students, faculty and staff she’s worked with over the years, though, like Charron, she is confident in the direction WHS seems to be going.

“I’m proud of how far we’ve come, but I know that they have great things to do,” she said. “I feel like our staff, as they have been, they’re heading in the right direction. I wish the district the best, and I hope I left it in even a better place than I found it.”