Ms. Zugel is a long-time devoted U-46 administrator and teacher having completed 33 years of service to our U-46 community.  She joined U-46 in 1991 when she was hired as a language arts, speech, and drama teacher at Kimball Middle School.  She served in that role until 2003 when she joined the staff at Abbott Middle School as a teacher.  She taught English, speech, and drama at Abbott for 10 years and then transitioned to the role of assistant principal for 7 years, and she became principal 3 years ago, during the Pandemic! During her time as a teacher, she served on several building committees and worked with Abbott students by sponsoring the student council and yearbook, and directing many plays and musicals.

Ms. Zugel has also served the district by serving on curriculum writing teams, extra-curricular teams, as a Teacher Mentor Program mentor and panel member, and as a Peer Assistance and Review Panel member.  She is looking forward to continuing to work collaboratively with teachers, students, and parents on implementing and building on structures at Abbott that will help our students be successful.  This will be Ms. Zugel's last year at Abbott Middle School, as she will be retiring at the end of the school year.

In her spare time, Ms. Zugel enjoys attending local festivals and concerts, reading suspense and murder mysteries, spending time with friends and family and her dog, Preston.

Ms. Zugel holds a Bachelor of Science from Ball State University, and a Master’s degree in educational administration from Aurora University. 

Ms. Zugel can be contacted by calling our main office or by emailing her at chriszugel@u-46.org.

Mrs. Jennifer Reyes will join Abbott Middle School as the co-principal starting with the 2024-25 school year. 

Since July 2022, Mrs. Reyes has served as the Assistant Principal of Freshman Success at Bartlett High School. In this role, she has been the Department Chair and Lead Evaluator for the Physical Education/Health Department. She coordinated AVID, College Jumpstart, and the Hawk Study Center, as well as co-coordinated student support teams. Mrs. Reyes facilitated all freshman events and orientations, supervised data coaching, and played a key role in academic teaming and rigor walks. She has also been active in U-46 Rising, safety council, and equity teams, ensuring smooth transitions from middle school to high school. Prior to joining U-46, Mrs. Reyes served as the Assistant Principal of Student Services at East Aurora High School in East Aurora School District 131 from 2019 to 2022. 

From 2013 to 2019, Mrs. Reyes was a Dean of Students at Metea Valley High School in Indian Prairie School District 204,  and from 2011 to 2013 at Plainfield North High School in Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202. Prior to serving in administrative roles, Mrs. Reyes was a Spanish teacher from 2003 to 2011, where she taught various levels of Spanish and developed a curriculum for native speakers. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she volunteered in the Dean’s office, participated in diversity action teams, and organized numerous student activities and clubs. Mrs. Reyes’ bilingual skills were crucial in supporting English-Spanish translation and interpretation needs in various settings.

Mrs. Reyes earned her Bachelor of Arts in foreign language and secondary education from Eastern Illinois University and her master’s degree in educational administration from Governors State University. She can be reached at jenniferreyes@u-46.org

Please welcome Mr. Charles Smith to Abbott Middle School as assistant principal for the 2022-2023 school year. 

Mr Smith's journey here precedes itself with 23 years in education as a teacher, program facilitator, assistant principal and most recently, a high school principal all during his tenure at Chicago Public Schools. 

Mr. Smith can be reached by calling the main office or by emailing him at charlessmith@u-46.org.