Assistant Superintendent Dr. Melissa Hirsch to retire after 24 years at Northbrook/Glenview SD 30

Dr. Melissa Hirsch, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Northbrook/Glenview School District 30, will retire at the end of the month after 24 years with the district, a presenter said at a board meeting.

At the meeting, a presenter praised Hirsch’s long service and credited her with establishing common planning time for elementary teachers and building ELA- and math-focused professional learning teams, or PLTs, that provided structured opportunities for teacher collaboration and curriculum work. The presenter said Hirsch previously served as principal of Willow Grove School and estimated she attended nearly 300 board of education meetings during her career.

The presenter highlighted the district’s recent comprehensive ELA adoption as a major, multi-year accomplishment under Hirsch’s leadership, saying she ensured teachers had the resources, training and systematic support needed to implement the change. "By establishing ELA and math focused professional learning teams," the presenter said, "she provided our educators with a structure and a space to collaborate and refine their craft."

In her remarks to the board, Hirsch thanked colleagues, teachers and her family for their support. "This work has defined who I am," she said, adding that supporting teachers and seeing students learn were the greatest privileges of her career. She thanked the community for the opportunity to serve and said she was "most grateful" for the experience.

The board offered thanks and well-wishes for Hirsch’s retirement and the meeting tribute emphasized that the structures she helped create — notably common planning time and the PLTs — are expected to persist after her departure. The retirement is effective at the end of the month; no formal personnel vote or successor was announced during the remarks.