Welcome to Dr. Edwards' Website

Dr. James B. Edwards became Niles North Principal in July 2016. Before coming to D219, Dr. Edwards served as Principal of South Elgin High School for three years. Under his leadership, the number of Advanced Placement exams taken by students increased by 27% between 2015 and 2016, and the number of extracurricular clubs increased from 21 to 34 over a three-year period. Dr. Edwards worked with teachers to create early release days to promote teacher collaboration and to put in place a curriculum team structure for the program.

Before his service at South Elgin, Dr. Edwards was Assistant Principal for Curriculum for three years at Elmwood Park High School. Prior to that, he served at Morton West High School for a year as Assistant Principal and as Dean of Students for two years. He served Noble Street Charter School in Chicago in several roles, including as Summer School Principal, College Counselor and as English and Social Science teacher. He taught Social Science for six years at Wells High School in Chicago and was Mock Trial Coordinator.

Dr. Edwards earned his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at Aurora University and his Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Curriculum Foundations at Chicago State University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Secondary Education from DePaul University.

At Niles North, school improvement initiatives are entering their third year and center around the following four pillars; literacy, relationships, racial equity, and social emotional learning. Dr. Edwards is looking forward to the evolution of these initiatives and their implementation in teaching, learning, and school climate.