ISBE Honors Dr. Adina Hoover with 2024 Thomas Lay Burroughs Award

​CHICAGO - The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has named Dr. Adina Hoover, president of the Westmont Community Unit School District 201 Board, as the 2024 recipient of the Thomas Lay Burroughs Award. The award honors outstanding local school board leadership, recognizing the transformative impact of Hoover's vision and leadership on student achievement and equity in the district.

The Burroughs Award, instituted by ISBE in 1991 in memory of the late ISBE Chair Thomas Lay Burroughs, celebrates board members who advance student learning, promote equity, and address local challenges with exceptional leadership. ISBE Board Chair Dr. Steven Isoye presented Hoover with the award Sunday at the 2024 Joint Annual Conference (also known as Triple I), hosted by the Illinois Association of School Boards, Illinois Association of School Business Officials, and Illinois Association of School Administrators in Chicago.

"Dr. Hoover is a force for positive change and an exemplar of visionary leadership for her community," said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders. "School board members across Illinois serve an unpaid, sometimes thankless, but incredibly vital role in public education. Dr. Hoover has proven herself a true partner to her district's administration and an effective advocate for the needs of students and educators. Her impact on the current students of CUSD 201 is immense; her impact on future generations of students will be immeasurable."

​ISBE Board Chair Dr. Steven Isoye presents Westmont Community Unit School District 201 Board President Dr. Adina Hoover with the Thomas Lay Burroughs Award at the 2024 Joint Annual Conference.

"Dr. Hoover exemplifies the gold standard of leadership," said Dr. Isoye. "From her work as a pediatric ER doctor to her tireless effort on behalf of CUSD 201, she has dedicated herself to improving the lives of young people in her community. Illinois is fortunate to have Dr. Hoover and countless other school board members that volunteer their time in service of our students."
Hoover joined the board in 2020 and utilized her expertise as a pediatric emergency room doctor to guide the district through the pandemic and into a period of recovery and growth. Her current term extends through 2027.
Hoover's leadership has propelled significant progress in closing achievement gaps at CUSD 201. Three out of four district schools have received an Exemplary summative designation - the highest rating - from ISBE on the 2024 Illinois Report Card.

In their nomination of Hoover for the Burroughs Award, Westmont Junior High Principal Amy Quattrone and CUSD 201 Bilingual Director Edith Courington attributed the district's success in part to Hoover championing initiatives, such as creating grade-level centers for the district's elementary schools to provide a more focused learning environment for students, adopting new English language arts and math curricula, and hiring instructional coaches at all grade levels.

Hoover has led an effort to hire equity consultants to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the district, allowing district leaders to identify and address disparities in students' access to resources and opportunities. In pursuit of meeting students' individual needs, Hoover successfully advocated for expanding dual language programming and summer school and intervention opportunities, as well as cultural course offerings at the high school level.

"Adina Hoover's leadership has been transformative for our district, particularly in her unwavering support of underserved populations," said Quattrone and Courington in the nomination. "Her vision and actions have made a lasting difference in our students' lives, and she truly deserves recognition for her outstanding contributions to educational equity and opportunity."

Quattrone and Courington also praised Hoover's hands-on engagement with the community in support of the district's referendum to improve district facilities, going above and beyond to knock on doors, address concerns at town halls, and give voice to the needs of the district.

CUSD 201, located in the Chicago suburb of Westmont in DuPage County, serves about 1,300 students, with nearly 46 percent identifying as students of color and 38.4 percent qualifying as low-income. ​