The Avery Coonley School names new leader
After a six-month search process, Nancy Nassr has been named head of school at The Avery Coonley School in Downers Grove, starting in the role July 1.
Jennifer Reenan, chairman of the board for the independent school founded in 1906, made the announcement earlier this month. About 325 academically gifted students in preschool through eighth grade attend the school.
“Ms. Nassr brings a depth and breadth of experience in education that will be an outstanding asset to our beloved home on Maple Avenue,” Reenan shared in a news release. “Under her leadership, we look forward to a future defined by continued excellence and innovation in which our gifted learners are challenged, supported, and inspired to reach their fullest potential.”
Nassr founded a consultancy that “focuses on strategic curriculum implementation and instructional coaching for educators,” the release noted, and served as assistant head of school and academic dean at Lake Forest Academy, as well as lead roles at Ancona School. She also was associate director of the Chicago International Charters Schools Chicago Quest School. She has a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Chamber music comes to Oak Park church
“Chamber Voices: Strings, Winds, Brass” will be performed by the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest and the Symphony Chorus at 3 p.m. Feb. 1 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 611 Randolph St. in Oak Park.
Pieces include Brahms’ “Sextet in Bb Major, Op. 18” by the Symphony Strings, “Air” by Michale Valentini and “Roaring Fork Quintet for Wind Instruments” by Eric Ewazen by 8th Avenue Winds and Baroque pieces by the Leaf Trombone Quintet.
Tickets to the performance cost $20 per person or $45 for a series of three concerts; students up through college may attend for free.
Information is at SymphonyOPRF.org, TheSymphonyOPRF@gmail.com or 708-218-2648.
Quintet performs at church in Western Springs
Temp Primo’s woodwind quintet will perform dance music from the 17th to 20th centuries during a performance from 2 to 2:50 p.m. Feb. 8 at All Saints Episcopal Church, 4370 Woodland Ave. in Western Springs.
Doors open at 1:30 p.m., and light refreshments will be served.
Cash donations will be accepted to support the Asylum Seekers Emergency Fund, which was started by the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago’s Sanctuary Task Force. The fund helps support immediate needs of new immigrants to help them achieve independence.
Information can be found at 708-246-0030.
Dance contest raises funds for cancer research
Area residents are invited to help raise money for Cancer Smashers at Dancing with the Darien Starz on Feb. 6 at Ashton Place, 341 75th St. in Willowbrook.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the event, which features competing dancers from the City of Darien, Darien Swim and Recreation Club, Darien Historical Society, Hinsdale South High School, Darien Youth Club, Darien Rotary Club, Darien Woman’s Club, Darien Rotary Club and Cancer Smashers.
The cost is $85 per person, which includes dinner, a four-hour open bar and competitive dance performance. Split-the-pot and raffles will be available, and attendees vote on the winner. RSVP at darien.il.us.
Darien Garden Club meeting set
Early spring wildflowers take the spotlight when the Darien Garden Club meets 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at St. John Lutheran Church, 7214 S. Cass Ave.
Guest speaker Cindy Crosby will present stories about Illinois spring wildflowers, their uses by Native Americans and early settlers and their folklore.
Information about the club is at dariengardenclub.com.
Blood bank history program offered in Oak Park
A program about the creation of a blood bank as part of the Monday Enrichment Series presented by the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association at 1:15 p.m. Feb. 2 in the second-floor ballroom at the facility, 178 Forest Ave. in Oak Park.
Alan Hoffstadter, a certified specialist in blood banking, will share the story of Dr. Bernard Fantus, an Oak Park physician who found a safe, efficient way to carry out transfusions after other medical practitioners had been trying to do so for centuries, with limited success and often disastrous results.
The series, which features music, literature, science, art and social sciences, is free to the public, although donations will be accepted. Details are at www.nineteenthcentury.org.
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