“He’s not your typical coach.”
That’s the phrase students at La Salle High School in Peru used to describe Stephen Robleski, LP’s superintendent since 2011. He said he would retire at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
Students highlighted his active participation in student events and enthusiasm for their passions.
“He enjoyed every moment of his students and their passion,” said former LP student Max Wirtz. “Even if it was something small, he would post about it on social media and how proud he was of his students and their success. It was always a special moment. It felt so good.”
Wirtz, like some superintendents, said Wrobleski is not a place for students to go when they are in trouble. He was in the community.
“He really cared,” Wirtz said. “And it definitely had a positive impact on everyone.”
Wrobleski said she has found that students are looking for adults who support them, encourage them and make them feel safe to be themselves.
“That’s always been my driving mission,” he said. “I want my kids to know who I am. I want them to know that I love them and I’m here to support them.”
However, there was a time when Robleski was not considered to become an educator.
“I initially started out as a pre-veterinary medicine student,” he said. “I had been working on a local farm outside of Jonesville since I was in middle school…and I thought it would be fun to be a veterinarian.”
Wroblewski then took a chemistry course and said he thought maybe it wasn’t that great.
He changed his major to history and earned a degree in secondary education. Mr. Wrobleski has been the superintendent of La Salle Peru High School since 2011 and has been with the district since 2005, when he was hired as the school’s curriculum director.
“My uncle was a huge influence on my life,” he said. “My father passed away after I graduated (from La Salle Peru High School), so my uncle became my real father figure. He was a former history teacher.”
Wrobleski followed in his uncle’s footsteps and became a high school history teacher after graduating from Illinois Valley Community College and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Northern Illinois University.
Wrobleski said after teaching in the Chicagoland area for several years, several mentors encouraged her to return to school. So he pursued a master’s degree in educational leadership and a superintendent’s license at the University of Illinois.
“I was a teacher, became a dean, then an assistant principal, then a principal,” he said. “And this all happened after about 12 years in DuPage County…and I had the opportunity to move back home.”
Troy Woods, chair of the LP social sciences department, said that when Wrobleski joined LP, people said, “What does he think we’re a suburban school? Don’t you know that we are a class community?” And he often laughed, as he had known Robleski since they were children growing up in Oglesby.
“He knew what we were going to do,” Woods said. “And oh, how we became under his leadership. Rob Clydesdale and I used to talk a lot about whether LP would build a new school. We both Well, not until we retire and the kids graduate. Then Steve took the helm, and wow, that all changed?”
Wrobleski was hired as the school’s curriculum director in 2005 and then as superintendent six years later. He said one of the first things he discussed with the school board as superintendent was the need to develop a strategic plan.
“But we also knew the facility would require a lot of work,” he says. “Our science labs were just dilapidated, and that’s no one’s fault. We just didn’t have air conditioning in most parts of the building over time.”
At the time, he said, you would look outside the building and think, “How beautiful it is,” but once you were inside, you felt like you had traveled back in time. So that’s priority number one is to have a plan to upgrade your facility.
And they did. They upgraded the sports complex, then passed the referendum and renovated the main building, then the Area Career Center, then expanded the sports complex and soccer stadium, updated the Pope Automech Building, and then the Doran Building.
Most recently, the school approved a capital improvement financing plan to construct a new agriculture building by the 2025-26 school year, if funding is available.
“We have a state-of-the-art, first-class educational facility that anyone in this region can be proud to send their children to,” Woods said. “Superintendents and school boards from all over the state come to LP and ask for ideas on what they can do with their buildings. I want that to happen before all three of my kids graduate from here. I’m grateful for that, and the entire community should be grateful.”
Aside from structural improvements, Mr. Wrobleski works with the board, faculty and staff to implement policies and programs to ensure that LP strives from within to be the best company it can be. did.
Mr Wrobleski said he was proud of the policies they had been able to put in place over the years to address bullying and the programs that supported those policies. Like a renaissance program.
“It’s the backbone of our school,” he said. “It’s about recognizing good behavior, good attendance, good grades. It’s also about celebrating something. So I think we’re taking the time to criticize people just for being good people.” I think that’s what builds a culture.”
LP also provides Chromebooks to all students, which has changed students’ ability to connect to the internet, Wrobleski said.
“The most important thing it creates is equity,” he says. “So no matter how rich or poor your family is, you’re going to experience the same thing.”
LP teacher Kristen Adams, who has worked with Wrobleski as a teacher and union president, said his willingness to collaborate with stakeholders, listen and address school issues makes him an asset to the district. He said he is doing so.
“As superintendent, he has continued to support teachers by encouraging and supporting them in pursuing further education and internships, and by creating leadership opportunities within the building,” she said.
Through structural improvements and policy implementation, Mr. Wrobleski maintained relationships with students in the school lunch program, and even had lunch with them during the week.
“I don’t want my kids to feel intimidated by this position,” he said. “I also try to attend as many events as possible, and I also send a lot of letters to the kids…I type them letters and then give them copies of their articles and photos from the newspaper.”
Jackson Sellette, a senior at LP, said school was always at the forefront of Wrobleski’s mind and he was always striving to make it even better.
“He’s always so friendly to everyone, so every time we meet, he’s so friendly,” he said. “He’s just a great guy.”
Wrobleski said he wants to reignite the agricultural program and refocus the district’s goals before he retires.
“That’s one of the things I want to leave as a lasting legacy is that we come back here and put down roots,” he said of the agricultural program. “However, as a staff, we are working hard toward the goal of reducing chronic absenteeism and increasing graduation rates.”
After retirement, Mr. Wrobleski plans to become a full-time assistant professor at the university level, training future superintendents.
As an LP alumnus, Mr. Wrobleski spoke about his time as superintendent. “There’s no place like home.”
