VVSD Principal Named to State's Early Learning Council

Principal Donna Nylander has been appointed to a three-year term on the Illinois Early Learning Council.

Considered one of the state’s foremost experts in early childhood education, Nylander has been serving as an informal advisor to the council for several years. She now formally joins the advisory group that includes a variety of top state officials as well as non-governmental stakeholders appointed by the governor, president of the Senate, minority leader of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and minority leader of the House of Representatives. 

“Throughout my career, I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities to connect with people and share ideas,” said Nylander, who came to VVSD’s Early Childhood Center in 2006. “This is another one of those wonderful opportunities.”

After teaching for four years in South Holland, Nylander served as an Illinois State Board of Education consultant for the South Metropolitan Association’s STAR-NET for seven years and was principal of the Speed Special Education Cooperative in Park Forest for two years before becoming Assistant Principal for the District 204 Prairie Children Pre-School from Indian Prairie for 10 years.

Her expertise is evident in the many local, regional, statewide and national presentations, trainings and focus groups in which she has participated throughout her career. In recent years, she has helped many others learn about the highly successful “cutting edge” practices at the Valley View Early Childhood Center and she helped write the Illinois State Standards for Early Childhood Education.

Established in 2003, the Illinois Early Learning Council’s mission is “to meet the early learning needs of children from birth to age five, and their families, by establishing a high-quality, accessible, and comprehensive statewide early learning system.”