Dennis Craft was elected to the School Board in 2015. Dennis is a 1966 graduate of Collinsville High School. He is a Vietnam veteran, having served the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1971. He graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1974 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and received his Master’s Degree in Education Administration in 1978. Dennis continued his education and received a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Saint Louis University in 2001.
After proudly serving the students, staff, parents and community for 37 years as an elementary teacher, elementary school principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent in the Collinsville Unit 10 School District, he retired 2011.
Dennis and his wife Jean (CHS 1971) have been married for 48 years. They have two wonderful children; a son Jeff, who graduated from Collinsville High School in 1996 and a daughter Laura, who graduated from CHS in 2000. Jeff has a M.D Ph.D. and is a radiation oncologist in St. Louis County Missouri. Laura has her Ph.D. and is a speech-language pathologist in the Collinsville Unit #10 School District. Dennis and Jean are blessed to have four fantastic grandchildren.
Dennis brings a great deal of experience to the school board having worked with curriculum, personnel, negotiations, school finance, facility and building projects, student transportation, and student discipline issues. He also has a working knowledge and history of Unit 10 that he has acquired throughout his tenure in the district.
Dr. Craft’s primary goals include providing the best educational programming for our students; ensuring the school district retains the neighborhood and community elementary school concept; making sure students are given the opportunity to prepare for a career path of their choosing by offering advanced placement courses, STEM, and vocational courses; and increasing community awareness of all the educational and extra-curricular opportunities our district has to offer. He is also committed to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of our district.
Dr. Craft completed his Professional Development Leadership Training and Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Training for School Board Members on May 19, 2015. He also received the IASB Fellow Award in 2020.