Porter Twp. superintendent leaving

VALPARAISO | Porter Township School Corp. Superintendent Nick Brown is resigning at the end of the school year.

Brown will become the superintendent for Hawthorn District 73, Vernon Hills, Ill. effective July 1. The K-8 school district has about 4,000 students, more than double the size of the district Brown now serves.

"Porter Township has been a great place to work," he said Thursday. "I'm leaving with mixed emotions. I've worked with such great kids and staff, and a great community but I am excited about this new, bigger challenge. Sometimes it takes a while to find a match, and this district is a great match."

According to a posting on the board's website, the Hawthorn District 73 Board of Education appointed Brown at its Jan. 23 meeting. The Porter Township School Board is scheduled to accept Brown's resignation at its Feb. 16 meeting.

Brown, in his seventh year as superintendent at Porter Township, began his career as a special education instructional assistant. He spent more than seven years in the classroom as a teacher and previously worked in Center Grove Community School Corp. in Greenwood, Ind., as an elementary principal before coming to Porter Township, which has about 1,500 students in K-12.

Brown said the board has not yet made a decision on the superintendent search process but he said they want to get someone in place fairly soon.