The superintendent who made a habit of buying chicken nuggets in the lunch line and asking kids if he could sit with them is retiring.

Hector Garcia attended his final District 181 board meeting on Monday, June 15, closing an eight-year tenure that began when he was hired in February 2018. Board members praised his record at the meeting, but Garcia told The Hinsdalean the achievement he's most proud of wasn't any single accolade.

"Colleagues, educators are seeing D181 as a destination district. They speak well about it," Garcia said. "Their whole tone has changed. That's where I'm most proud."

Garcia, who started his career 33 years ago as a classroom teacher and coach, built his leadership around what he called a "boring redundancy": four pillars in the district's strategic plan covering academics, finances, personnel, and culture. He resisted chasing trends, telling The Hinsdalean that people would get excited about "the new thing or the shiny thing, but at the end it was always short term."

That approach helped the district earn a Model Professional Learning Community designation from Solution Tree, a national education consulting organization, before Garcia's departure. The recognition requires years of sustained improvement in student achievement and applies across all seven District 181 schools: The Lane, Monroe, Oak, Walker, and Elm elementary schools, Hinsdale Middle School, and Clarendon Hills Middle School.

Garcia will stay on through the end of June to smooth the handoff to incoming Superintendent Jim Wipke, who officially takes over Wednesday, July 1. The District 181 board unanimously approved Wipke's hiring on December 16, 2025, selecting him from 34 applicants in a nationwide search. Wipke, 54, spent the past seven years leading the Ladue School District near St. Louis, ranked No. 1 in Missouri by Niche.com. His five-year contract starts at $270,000 with a $20,000 signing bonus.

Board President Bill Cotter said Wipke's track record in Ladue made him the clear choice from an exceptional applicant pool.

For his part, Garcia said what he'll miss most is the simplest thing about the job: sitting with students. He described buying a tray of chicken nuggets, finding a table, and talking with kids about the sauce, the nuggets, what they were doing. When they wanted to go outside, he'd get up and leave.

"That's the best part of the job and I think it's rarely seen or talked about," Garcia said.

His post-retirement plans include attending a tennis tournament in Ohio in August, visiting his son in Washington, D.C., and playing more golf. His college-age children vetoed his idea of tailgating every weekend in the fall.

Hinsdale education week ahead

• Thursday, June 25 — District 86 Board of Education meeting. Agenda includes a vote on the 2026–2027 regular meeting calendar and discussion on the future of the A&O Committee. Check the district website for public comment sign-up.
• Wednesday, July 1 — Jim Wipke's first day as District 181 superintendent.
• Summer programs ongoing — District 181 summer learning programs are underway with 826 students enrolled, including Time to Shine reading support (grades K–7), Math Camp (grades K–7), and enrichment classes in art, cooking, STEAM, sports, music, and world languages.