South Elementary K-1

A new era in leadership at South Elementary School began mid-summer as Jana Sykora took over the reins as interim principal after long-time administrator Doreen Oelke retired following the 2023-24 school year. 

Sykora is very familiar with the Saint Peter Public School system having worked in some capacity in District 508 since the fall of 2016. Sykora began her career at SPPS as the School Counselor at Saint Peter High School and held that role for five years. She then transitioned to SPPS’s Principal for alternative programs at Rock Bend ALC, Oshawa Learning Academy, and for SPHS’s night and summer school programs. She will still serve as principal at Oshawa Learning Academy in addition to her duties at South this school year.

“Doreen (Oelke) had an excellent system in place when I took over and my goal is to add and complement what she built over the years,” Sykora said. “My thoughts early on is this will be a year of observation as I watch, feel, and see what is going on at South Elementary and learn from that. 

“We have an amazing staff already in place (at South) and they are all very good at what they do. I’m excited to see how the year progresses, and I look forward to getting to know the staff, students and families better as we move forward.”

Sykora and her husband, Nick, have two sons, Callen (7th grader at Saint Peter Middle School) and Tyler (4th grader at North Elementary).

“Nick is originally from St. Peter and we have strong family roots in this area,” Sykora said. “We knew we wanted to raise our boys in this community and close to family. Starting at Saint Peter High School as a school counselor allowed us to make the move in time for Callen to start preschool here. We really love this area and getting a chance to be the interim principal at South Elementary is a great opportunity.”

SPPS had originally planned to hire a permanent replacement for Oelke last spring, but budget issues at the time changed the position to an interim one for this school year.  According to Saint Peter Interim Superintendent Dr. Jeff Olson, the hiring for the permanent South Elementary principal position is under review for the 2024-25 school year and an official decision will be made at a later date.