District 88 Superintendent named as 2026 Superintendent of Distinction for DuPage County Region of the Illinois Association of School Administrators
District 88 Superintendent Dr. Jean Barbanente (pictured above) has been named as the 2026 Superintendent of Distinction for the DuPage County Region of the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA).
Superintendents of Distinction are selected by their peers in each of the 21 IASA regions based on leadership, communication, professionalism and community involvement.
Dr. Barbanente has been with District 88 for more than 30 years and has served as Superintendent since 2021. She is the district’s first female Superintendent and also is the district’s first Superintendent to speak multiple languages (English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese).
“We are incredibly proud that Dr. Barbanente has received the outstanding honor of being named as a 2026 Superintendent of Distinction,” said District 88 Board of Education President Donna Craft Cain. “Her visionary leadership, genuine care and awareness of the needs of our students and families and ability to work with her team to meet those needs are truly second to none. She has helped implement a wealth of programs and initiatives to support students in all aspects, including academics, social-emotional well-being and opportunities to connect with the schools. This work has created a learning environment and community in which students and families are supported and can thrive. Her leadership and impact can be seen throughout our district, county and state.”
Dr. Barbanente has been instrumental in ensuring District 88 maintains a comprehensive curriculum that includes more than 30 Advanced Placement (AP) courses and more than 50 dual-credit and collegiate-credit courses in 18 career pathway areas, along with award-winning fine arts programming, to help ensure students are prepared to successfully accomplish their post-high school goals.
She also serves on the IASA DuPage County Executive Board, the School Association for Special Education in DuPage County (as Board President) and as an appointed member of the Illinois Advisory Council for Bilingual Education. Most recently, she founded the Illinois Consortium on English Learner Program Effectiveness – now with more than 110 member districts – to drive statewide program and policy improvements for English Learners. She also is a member of the Oakbrook Terrace Lions Club, Rotary Club of Villa Park (past President), local intergovernmental organizations, workforce groups and the Village of Addison Sister Cities program with Triggiano, Italy (where Addison hosts students from Triggiano, and Addison Trail students travel to Italy).
Dr. Barbanente joined District 88 in 1995 as a member of the World Language Department at Addison Trail, where she taught Italian and Spanish. In 2002, she transitioned to her first leadership role in District 88 as she took on the position of Director of Guidance at Addison Trail. In 2006, Dr. Barbanente was named as Director of Learning Services and was later appointed as Assistant Superintendent, where she provided leadership in the areas of teaching, learning, human resources, compliance, equity, special education and Pupil Personnel Services (PPS). Dr. Barbanente received her bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis on teaching Italian and Spanish from Dominican University (Rosary College) and earned her Master of Arts in Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with ESL and Bilingual Concentration from National Louis University. She completed her School Counseling Licensure at Roosevelt University and her Administrative and Superintendent Licensure at Concordia University and received her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Aurora University, concentrating her research efforts in leadership for equity.
"I am extremely honored to have received this recognition from my colleagues in DuPage,” Barbanente said. “It has been a blessing to serve the students, staff and families of District 88, and I look forward to continuing our work to open doors and remove barriers for students to achieve their dreams. I am blessed to have a wonderful Board of Education, with members who are collaborative and wholly focused on what is good for students. I have tremendously supportive communities, an infinitely talented administrative team and a dedicated staff. I can honestly say that while the superintendency is very stressful, I enjoy each and every minute of the job, and I don’t take the opportunity to make a difference for granted.”
Dr. Barbanente will be officially recognized by the IASA during a celebratory luncheon on April 23 in Springfield. She also was honored during the IASA DuPage County Region meeting on March 11 (pictured above, left).