DANVILLE — An Oakwood High School graduate is the newest member of the Danville School District's leadership team.

Danville board members on Wednesday approved appointing Jessica Bradford as East Park Elementary's new assistant principal. She is an eight-year educator who most recently served as a dean and special education teacher at the READY (Regional Educational Alternative for Developing Youth) Program in Champaign, the Champaign-Ford Regional Office of Education's safe schools program.

Bradford will begin her new post on Aug. 1, at a salary of $65,000.

She replaces Brandie Fellers, who requested to move to the position of grants coordinator in August.

Superintendent Mark Denman said Bradford was selected from among two "excellent" finalists.

"She was a very strong candidate, and she will be a very good fit for us at East Park," he said.

The district's largest elementary school, East Park has about 750 preschool through fifth-grade students. In addition to the preschool, it houses special education and gifted programs.

As assistant principal, Bradford will help Principal Chris Rice in providing instructional leadership, evaluating staff, handling student discipline, working with parents, working on curriculum and the school improvement plan, among other duties.

Bradford is a Danville native who lives in Fithian. She graduated from Oakwood High in 1988.

She earned a bachelor's degree in special education from Illinois State University, and an administration certificate from Eastern Illinois University. She's currently working on a superintendent endorsement certificate at Eastern.

She said her family played a big role in her decision to become an educator. "My mom is a teacher, and my dad is a police officer. They're both all about helping people, and that's been instilled in me since I was little," she said. She chose special education as her specialty because "my sister is mentally challenged. She's absolutely wonderful, and I've learned so much from her."

Bradford started her teaching career at the READY Program. After teaching there for three years, she moved to Urbana High School to get experience at a public school. After three years there, she returned to the READY Program as an administrator.

Bradford said she jumped at the chance to move to the Danville district.

"I really like the direction the district is heading. They seem to be very proactive in making decisions regarding all students," she said. "I also like the diversity as well. And I'm just really excited about this opportunity to work with the students, staff, other administrators and the parents and to be part of this professional learning community."