From union leader to high school principal: McHenry Freshman Campus’ Eiserman to take helm at Upper Campus

As a high school Spanish teacher, Greg Eiserman always considered himself a “kid person” who enjoyed working with students more than anything else.

“I wasn’t an ‘adult person,’” Eiserman said. “I didn’t always love working with staff.”

That changed over the years. He got into union leadership, where he developed “a passion for helping out the staff.” Eiserman became a department chair, a divisional chair and then an assistant principal, earning a master’s degree at Aurora University and an education specialist degree from Western Illinois University. In 2023, he became principal at McHenry High School’s Freshman Campus, (formerly East Campus).

Now the McHenry High School District 156 board has approved Eiserman’s appointment as the Upper Campus principal. Starting in the upcoming, 2025-26 school year, he will replace Jeff Prickett at the school serving students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Prickett is leaving to become principal at Grayslake’s Meadowview Elementary School.

“The board is excited for [Eiserman] to take over as Upper Campus principal next year,” school board President Dawn Bremer said, noting that Eiserman has worked in the district for over 25 years. “His unwavering dedication, passion, experience and commitment to our district are unparalleled and evident in the strong relationships he has built with the students, parents and staff over the years.”

As a principal, he deals more with staff than students on a day-to-day basis, Eiserman said, but he feels that can have a bigger effect on students too.

“The higher up you get, the bigger impact you have. I still love teaching Spanish, but that’s 120 to 130 kids. When you are a part of a team, administratively, the impact you can have on kids is pretty powerful,” he said.

His experiences as a union leader as well as an administrator taught him how to ensure teachers are part of discussions too, Eiserman said.

“I still try, when we have an issue or a problem ... to think of it as a teacher. You can lose perspective if you are not careful. So I don’t make decisions without talking to our staff and finding out what it will look like at the classroom level,” he said.

“It just makes sense” to have Eiserman follow him in the principal role, Prickett said. “He is a graduate from the Upper Campus” when it was known as West Campus, “and was a teacher, a division chair, a union president and an associate principal. He is going to be great and he is the right choice for the building.”

As for his choice to leave District 156, Prickett said it was about making time for his family and enjoying his career: “Every now and then you know it is time. I feel like I am not getting any younger and I have done all three levels as a building principal” in elementary, middle and high schools.

But as a high school principal, it means a lot of evenings are spent at the school – something that doesn’t fit as well with his family now. “I am not getting any younger,” the 54-year-old said. “I have felt for a couple of years that if there is something I could do again, it is elementary.”