Principal Advisory

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.

A graduate of CPS schools, Nora’s passion for education started when her brother was placed in a program for students with diverse learning needs. She wanted to make sure that children like her brother would be given the tools necessary to reach their full potential. Serving as a principal has given Nora the opportunity to support all students as they work toward their academic, social, and emotional goals.

Nora and the Seward team are focused on ensuring that all students are prepared to succeed in a global, 21st-Century economy. She prioritizes developing teachers who put children first and who are persistent in growing their capacity to help students and colleagues grow.

A proud graduate of CPS, Fatima values the teachers and staff who guided her educational journey. She spent most of her 15 years in urban education teaching primary grades and pursued the role of principal to expand her impact.

While at Sumner, Fatima has increased the school’s partnerships to make literacy in the primary grades a focus, and she is working to reinforce her staff’s instructional pedagogy. She is committed to making sure that students in her school are exposed to a wide range of experiences that will allow them to envision who they could become in the future.

Mary comes from a family of CPS educators—her mom was an elementary school teacher, her sister was a teacher and a school psychologist, and her younger brother and her daughter are currently high school teachers. Mary joined CPS in 1985, and she worked in several schools across the city prior to joining Dawes as a fifth-grade teacher in 1993. Mary became an assistant principal in 2000 and continues to learn with and coach her staff members. She loves watching her teachers and students grow and succeed. 

Mary believes in fostering a positive and collaborative school culture. Additionally, she is committed to supporting teacher learning and success because she knows happy and prepared staff members result in happy and prepared students and families.

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.

Shannae is a graduate of CPS and became an educator to advocate for equitable opportunities for students, just as the educators in her life did for her. She is passionate about setting high expectations for students while giving all children individualized supports to meet their unique needs, interests, and goals.

Shannae believes that collaboration and shared leadership are the keys to student and staff success. She relies on her talented team to provide students with high-quality educational experiences while she works to design and implement structures that impact student growth.

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.

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.

Latoya knew that her purpose in life was to become an educator when she discovered as a kindergartner that she loved learning and helping others learn by tutoring her younger siblings and classmates. Latoya has served many roles within CPS, including teacher, framework specialist, school and network instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. She believes firmly in the power of visionary leadership and strong adult role models, and she attributes her desire to become a principal to the countless teachers, coaches, and mentors that helped her understand that education can truly change a child’s trajectory no matter their circumstances.

At WBrown, Latoya focuses on improving school culture by prioritizing social and emotional learning for students and adult community members, fostering collaborative practices to support staff in implementing high-quality instruction, and meeting the needs of all students. She and her team are passionate about preparing WBrown students for their futures by providing a high-quality STEM education that builds students’ collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity skills.

From a young age, Raul learned the value of an education from his parents, who emigrated to the U.S. from Jalisco, Mexico. They stressed that education is the key to any future success, and Raul applied this belief as he worked to overcome the challenges of being an English learner. This experience has propelled him to champion equitable access to education for all students.

As the principal of Kelly High School, Raul’s focus is to ensure that all students are prepared for success in college, career, and community. His goals include breaking down systemic barriers, expanding college-level classes, and working with all stakeholders to best prepare students for life beyond the walls of Kelly High School.

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 high school English teacher in CPS, Lydia led hear students to significant academic growth. She knew she could replicate that same success at the school-level and decided to pursue a pathway to school leadership.

This year, Lydia’s focus is to ensure that all students are receiving common social-emotional learning approaches and individualized tiered supports as necessary. Lydia has implemented instructional and behavioral strategies that have decreased discipline referrals and increased student attendance and on-track rates at every grade level.

Even though Ali initially planned to attend law school, he ended up student teaching in an elementary school while completing a minor in education. After Ali experienced his students’ reaction to his enthusiasm and high energy level—and considered having summers off—Ali embarked on his career as an educator. As someone who always seeks a challenge, Ali was then motivated to move into administration.

Ali’s goal is to help Corliss become neighborhood students’ top school choice by improving academic culture, instructional rigor, and students’ preparedness for post-secondary options. Ali and his staff are also focused on increasing the number of extracurricular programs and activities available for Corliss students and ultimately creating a school that serves the needs of his students’ generation.

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.

With more than 16 years in public education, Anthony’s work as principal is fueled by his desire to ensure students have opportunities to lead healthy, happy, and impactful lives. His current focus areas include developing and supporting teacher leadership, as well as building capacity within grade level teams to provide advanced levels of social, emotional, and academic interventions for all students.

As a CPS high school English teacher, Lydia built lasting relationships with students and helped her students make significant academic growth. Lydia knew she could replicate that same success at a school-wide level, so she pursued a pathway to school leadership.

Under Lydia’s leadership, CAHS has made significant changes to school culture, resulting in record-high on-track, graduation, and attendance rates. This year, CAHS is focused on encouraging educators to learn from one another by providing feedback on unit plans and summative assessments, visiting each other’s classrooms, and analyzing assessment data in order to adjust instruction and meet the needs of all students. Lydia hopes that these strategic efforts will result in above-average student growth on the PSAT and SAT.

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.

After graduating with a degree in business information systems, Femi began her career as a business executive. It did not take long before she realized that education was her true calling. After just a few months of teaching, Femi’s principal encouraged her to explore the possibility of becoming a principal, and so Femi continued to hone her skills as an educator. Femi considers serving as a principal her dream job because she loves serving students, supporting teachers, collaborating with parents, and partnering with the community.

While there are many great things happening in her school community, Femi and her staff are primarily focused on ensuring that educational equity is a reality for every single Morgan Park student.

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.

Melissa grew up in a rural, impoverished community downstate and recalls nearly one third of her classmates dropping out because they felt like school wasn’t meant for them. While she loved teaching in the district, she wanted to make change on a grander scale and build a school that teaches every single student that they not only belong, but are needed.

Melissa and her team at Santiago continue to focus on developing an equitable school model through multi-age classrooms, competency-based instruction, student-led conferences, mentoring, a k–8 student interest-based elective block, and much more. She is most passionate about equipping students with the skills, confidence, and social-political consciousness necessary to disrupt the status quo and exercise their voice and choice in their school, community, and beyond.

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.

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.

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.

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.