Hopkins Education Foundation Picks Director With Strong Local Ties

The Hopkins Education Foundation has named board member Jennifer St. Clair as its next executive director, the school district announced Thursday.  

St. Clair, who has been on the foundation’s board for three years and chaired its auction, will start in the new position Monday.  

"I am excited to continue to contribute to an organization dedicated to helping our schools and our children," a news release quoted St. Clair. "My family is very proud to be part of Hopkins Schools and I have enjoyed being an active volunteer in the District for the past 11 years."  

St. Clair has two children in the school district, and her family has three generations of Hopkins schools connections—with her father-in-law, Dr. Robert St. Clair, serving as the first West Junior High principal from 1967-1988.  

She has a degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and has worked in sales and management for Campbell Soup and J.M. Smucker Co.  

The Hopkins Education Foundation is a nonprofit provides money for programs and technology that the school district wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. It also accelerates pilot programs and provides new technology for the classrooms—including interactive white boards, college planning software and data collection devices.  

The foundation has awarded more than $2 million in grants since 1995—including $61,000 so far in 2013.