Principal Advisory

Adriana grew up in a community very similar to Gage Park and is a proud product of Chicago Public Schools. She believes it is her duty and responsibility to advocate for all students, model the change you want to see, and engage students in decision making. Adriana had wonderful teachers who made an impact in her life and helped her understand the important role teachers have in helping students reach their potential. She strives to create a positive and safe learning environment for Nightingale’s students so that they can reach their full potential.

Nightingale’s three top priorities are to provide a rigorous curriculum, ensure that students have a sense of belonging, and build teacher leadership.

As the daughter of a retired CPS teacher, the value of hard work and a good education were emphasized at an early age. As a product of CPS, Angélica had excellent educators that nurtured her love for learning, and she knew that she too would become an educator. Hubbard High School has been her home for 20 years where she has been a Spanish teacher, department chairperson, International Baccalaureate coordinator, assistant principal and currently principal.

Angélica is leading each day to make positive changes in her school community. Along with her admin team, she is using the equity lens to analyze school-wide systems and structures that will help close the opportunity gap. Her goal is to create a strong foundation with Freshman OnTrack that will lead to every student taking a college-level course prior to graduation from Hubbard High School. Angélica believes that every student is entitled to a quality education and an opportunity to be successful.

Amy passionately believes that all children can learn and have the right to a high-quality, engaging education. As principal, Amy prioritizes building a positive, collaborative culture that focuses on school growth, and she strives to ensure all students are supported and challenged academically while developing a love of learning.

Amy leads Hamilton with the knowledge that students succeed when they are learning in an encouraging and supportive environment; connecting new information to their own experiences and knowledge; being creative and making choices about activities and assignments; having their parents involved in their education; and forming positive connections with adult role models.

Alberto chose to pursue a career in education so he could teach and inspire students learning mathematics. Twelve years ago, Alberto decided to move into a leadership role as principal in order to have a greater impact on student achievement by coaching fellow educators and implementing school-wide actions.

At Gary Elementary, Alberto’s work focuses on creating Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, ensuring high-quality curriculum, and encouraging a culture of learning.

Barbara firmly believes that continuous school improvement begins with strong leadership. She began her journey in education as an English teacher at Benito Juarez Community High School. Within the last four years, Barbara has served as the resident principal, assistant principal, and now principal of George Washington High School. Her work is deeply rooted in creating equitable spaces for all students that are developmentally, academically, and socially responsive.

During her time at Washington, Barbara has been working to create a transformational school experience for students, staff, and community that grounds their work in social justice. She and her team have been making strides to reorganize school structures to provide greater access and achievement for all students at Washington.

Brigitte became a principal for the same reasons she was drawn to teaching—she believes that all young people deserve access to a high-quality education and caring, supportive adults to accompany them along the way. While her experience as an educator in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood has shaped her in numerous ways, the most crucial thing her school community has taught her is the importance of resiliency and hope.

At PECHS, Brigitte prioritizes educational opportunities that are often unavailable at alternative high schools, such as athletics and extracurricular activities, individualized post-secondary planning, earning college credits and early career credentials, and Advanced Placement courses.

Born and raised in Chicago, Charlie has been an educator for the past 18 years, including 14 years as an elementary school teacher. In 2015, Charlie joined the New Leaders Emerging Leaders Program, where he began to hone his leadership style. During that year, he focused on building math fluency and implementing small group instruction to drive student growth. In 2016, he joined the New Leaders Aspiring Principals Program and shortly after became the resident principal at Harte. Charlie believes in two-way communication, data-driven instruction, and the importance of developing students socially and emotionally. Charlie received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Emily was drawn primarily to the field of education because both of her parents are retired public school educators. As a school leader, Emily is passionate about using her privilege to provide life-altering education to her scholars, create greater opportunity for Muchin students to get their seat at the decision-making table, and tell scholars of color that their lives and education matters.

This year at Muchin, Emily is prioritizing encouraging staff engagement, improving teacher retention, and driving equitable discipline and academic outcomes for African-American scholars.

As a child, Fareeda aspired to become a medical doctor, but then found herself drawn to the field of education after a college internship with the National Institute of Health showed her the importance of educational equity, particularly for African American men. Prior to becoming a principal, Fareeda taught secondary-level English and coached fellow educators as an instructional leader.

Fareeda’s mission is to develop competent and resilient leaders in order to tackle educational issues, such as the achievement gap, teacher retention, school reform, and distributive leadership. Fareeda is committed to creating sustainable, academically-rigorous and competitive centers of learning for minority children.

Leonard was inspired to become an educator as a second career. He came to CPS as a firm believer that all students embody a variety of gifts, talents, and abilities, and can learn no matter their socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and environment—a belief that has guided his leadership.

Leonard is passionate about participative leadership, and the intersection of leadership and improved student outcomes is what excites him most about his tenure as principal at Jefferson. As he evolves as a leader and facilitates the leadership journey of all members of his school community, Jefferson student outcomes continue to improve.

Growing up, Margaret spent time with her parents in the schools they worked in, and she saw the impact they had on families and communities and the pride they took in their careers. Once Margaret decided to work in education, she knew she wanted to be an administrator, and has spent her career working in neighborhood schools in Chicago’s Hermosa Park and Belmont Cragin—first as a sixth-grade teacher, and now as a principal. Margaret is currently pursuing her doctorate in urban education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

As principal, Margaret prioritizes relationships and restorative practices because she knows these efforts support instructional changes and student growth—especially for middle school students. Under Margaret’s leadership, Northwest staff has been focused on small group instruction across all content areas in sixth through eighth grades. Northwest emphasizes adult learning and positive classroom environments in order to promote academic growth and strengthen relationships in the school community.

Manda has over 25 years of experience with CPS as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal. Manda was a member of the first cohort of the Chicago Principal’s Fellowship Executive Education program at Northwestern University, and she also partnered with the Chicago Public Education Fund to facilitate a diverse learner PLC with other principals in 2016. Her experience as an educator has taught her that sharing best practices with colleagues is critical to student success. She continues to advocate for student learning and works diligently with her staff to develop new strategies that will ensure diverse learner success and create opportunities for parental engagement. 

At Beard, Manda works with diverse learner teachers and paraprofessionals to develop a multi-sensory teaching approach in order to achieve successful student outcomes. Beard is also home to the full-day preschool program that has earned the state’s ExceleRate Gold Circle of Quality Award. Beard has been awarded the “Exemplary” Supportive Schools certification in social-emotional learning supports for all students, the “Excelling” rating in Fine Arts, all four badges for CPS Healthy Schools, and the “Bronze” Healthy School designation with the National Alliance for Healthy Schools.

Terri did not begin her career in education. She majored in business and worked in corporate America. After receiving her MBA, she did not feel fulfilled in life until she entered a classroom as a substitute teacher and was greeted by students who treated her like a teacher who has been there forever.

This is when she knew that teaching was her calling. After teaching for five years, she decided to take on leadership roles that would support students on a grander scale. Her passion to help students achieve their goal has been her mission. She wants students to feel the same joy she has every morning when she wakes up to go to work. Lozano’s areas of focus rest on raising the teacher and student voice to evoke a deeper level of commitment that will take us to the next level of achievement. We are engaging stakeholders to ensure there is active practice of equity in our community of black and brown children.

After many years working as a teacher in both public and private schools, Joseph was inspired to become a principal by a desire to broaden his ability to serve the needs of all students. As principal, he aims to provide his entire school community with the leadership, resources, and support needed to help students reach their full potential.

Joseph aims to develop students who are intellectually competent, socially skilled and mature, compassionate, socially just and responsible, and well-rounded. The school’s “2020 Vision” emphasizes ensuring equitable access and support for every member of Jones’ diverse student community.

As a proud CPS graduate, Jennifer was inspired to pursue teaching and to eventually become a principal out of appreciation for the education she received and her belief that education and culture are the foundation for a more peaceful society. Her experiences as a student, teacher, instructional coach, administrator, and parent have solidified her commitment to foster a humanistic approach in her work.

Jennifer hopes to continue the academic success of her school, expand early college opportunities, and create the most supportive learning environment so that students realize their full potential. She models reflection, authenticity, and compassion to ensure that progress is based on staff and student voice.

As a proud CPS alumnus, Jasmine was inspired to enter the field of education by a plethora of tireless, loving, and dedicated teachers. Her goal is to pay forward the culturally-responsive empowerment, compassion, and high expectations she received as a CPS student in order to help children and families interrupt and rewrite the narratives of their communities.

King Academy is a member of the Empowered Schools Cohort 2, and Jasmine is focused on implementing distributed leadership throughout the school in order to increase student achievement, family engagement, and teacher retention. In addition, King Academy is working to increase student achievement and attainment by incorporating writing across all content areas.

In 2005, Jennifer began her teaching career in Washington, DC as a middle school teacher of English learners while also earning a master’s in teaching English to speakers of other languages. Her work in social justice, project-based expeditionary learning took her to the Czech Republic as a Fulbright scholar and to Nicaragua, Chile, and Perú as a teacher trainer and curriculum specialist. At UC Berkeley, Jennifer earned a master’s in educational leadership and her administrator credential with the hopes that as principal she could make a larger impact on increasing the educational opportunities of youth who have been historically marginalized.

At IJLA, Jennifer is working with committed staff, dedicated alumni network, vital community partners, and a resilient student body to rethink schooling, prioritizing social emotional needs as well as academic opportunities, to develop core competencies as a critical thinker, problem-solver, collaborator, and agent of change.

After years in the corporate sector, Principal Lugo changed careers and became an eighth grade teacher. After ten years of teaching, he was accepted into UIC’s Urban Education Doctoral Leadership program. In 2013, he became principal at Harriet Beecher Stowe, a school in the community where he was raised. Committed to continuous improvement, both personally and professionally, he attained his doctorate in 2016.

Currently, Principal Lugo and Stowe’s focus are on implementing personalized learning in all preschool through grade 8 classrooms, continuing to grow the school’s dual language and performing arts programs, and implementing a new reading curriculum.

Kelly grew up knowing she wanted to be an educator—she was always the teacher when her family played school on their front step. Although Kelly ended up pursuing her bachelor’s degree in hospitality management, her heart always belonged to teaching, and she eventually went back to school to get her master’s degree in education. 

Under Kelly’s leadership, Burnside staff are focused on developing children with both character and confidence—students who are not only academically astute but also socially, emotionally, and mentally capable of success in life beyond school.