Danielle didn鈥檛 set out to be an assistant principal, though. She didn鈥檛 even plan on becoming an educator. In college, she was on a pre-med track, convinced that saving lives meant becoming a doctor. But as her passion shifted, a tutoring job at her old middle school sparked a realization: her passion was for education.

鈥淚 fell in love with the lightbulb moment when students finally get something,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne student changed my life 鈥� I still tell her that.鈥�

After nearly a decade as a biology teacher at Walt Disney Magnet School, Danielle had no plans to leave the classroom. 鈥淚 was that teacher who said, 鈥楴ope. I鈥檓 a lifer. I鈥檓 never going into administration.鈥欌�� But her then-assistant principal, Dr. Anna Vilchez 鈥� who is now principal at Steinmetz College Prep 鈥� saw something in her. And like all great leaders do, she pushed Danielle to grow.

The result? Danielle returned to school, earned the necessary credentials, and now serves as an assistant principal at Steinmetz, where she leads with vision, equity, and purpose.

Danielle acknowledges the importance of her role: 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 run a school alone 鈥� and you shouldn鈥檛 have to.鈥� She knows firsthand how much happens behind the scenes in a school, much of it invisible to students and teachers. 鈥淲hen I was a teacher, I鈥檇 be like, 鈥榃here鈥檚 our [assistant principal]?鈥� Now I know. They鈥檙e putting out fires all day, and then going home to do all the work they didn鈥檛 get to during the day.鈥�

Danielle鈥檚 relationship with Anna is built on mutual trust and shared purpose. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing I wouldn鈥檛 do for her. I鈥檓 her person. If she calls at 9 p.m., I鈥檓 there. If she needs something at 4 a.m., I鈥檒l answer.鈥�

But her role is more than problem-solving; it鈥檚 a partnership. 鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 just someone saying, 鈥業 got you,鈥� leadership is not work you can do alone. Every school 鈥� every student 鈥� deserves more than one person holding the weight.鈥� Danielle is that person: the one who holds systems together and holds the staff accountable for doing what is best for kids.

As both an assistant principal and school programmer, Danielle is focused on creating equitable outcomes for every student, particularly English learners, students with disabilities, and students from historically underserved groups. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 program for teachers. We program for students. That has to be the starting point,鈥� she says.

Accordingly, Danielle leads data-informed conversations, partners with teams across the school, and ensures that the schedule opens doors instead of closing them. Danielle has regular 鈥渞igor walks鈥� with her leadership team to calibrate what excellent, equitable instruction should look like in every classroom.聽

Though she understands the importance of her role, Danielle plans to become a principal one day 鈥� but she鈥檚 in no rush. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still so much to learn. I want to be ready when the right opportunity comes.鈥�

Anna is helping her to prepare for that by holding her to her growth goals and pushing her out of her comfort zone. 鈥淪he鈥檒l even call me out on my facial expressions in meetings!鈥� Danielle laughed. 鈥淪he pushes me to align my words, my actions, even my nonverbals with who I want to be as a leader.鈥�

And when that opportunity comes and Danielle leads her own school, she knows that she will want a partner to support her. 鈥淏ecause every school should have an [assistant principal],鈥� she says. 鈥淎lways.鈥�

For another example of why all of Chicago’s public schools need an assistant principal, read 鈥�Foundational Assistant Principals: Resources for Successful Leadership in All CPS Schools,鈥� also on our blog.

Note from The Fund: Jo Easterling-Hood, an alum of the 2015-16聽, authored this post. In its first two years, the program served 41 principals in schools citywide. 32 of them remain principals, and three of them have been promoted to district leadership roles. The will serve 24 principals, impacting 16,000 students in grades PreK-12.

I have had the pleasure of serving as the principal of on Chicago鈥檚 Southeast side for nearly 20 years. In that time, my team and I have worked with our parents and the broader school community to improve teaching and learning in our school, creating the vibrant school community that visitors see today. Even though I am a veteran principal, I constantly seek opportunities to hone my skills and build my professional capacity to be a more effective leader. For that reason, I was honored to be selected into the last year.

As part of the Fellowship, our cohort worked with incredible faculty from Northwestern University and met monthly with CPS Chief Education Officer Dr. Janice K. Jackson to discuss improvements to citywide programs and policies. My project for the year was to work with a small group of my colleagues to revamp the district鈥檚 principal mentoring process in a way that both complies with state law and provides necessary support to principal mentors and mentees.

This project was near and dear to my heart because I mentored for various programs, including LIFT, LAUNCH, New Leaders and now the CPS 海角直播Leadership Collaborative for the past 15 years. I am proud to count many successful principals, assistant principals and district leaders as my former mentees. As a result, I know the power of an effective mentoring experience, and how this early support can develop and retain great school leaders in our district.

Moreover, as an experienced mentor, I know firsthand the challenges of preparing new principals to meet the expectations of a demanding job. I also know principal mentors traditionally receive little training and few resources to do the job well. Beginning with a new state law in 2014, principal mentors were asked to submit a lot of paperwork about their mentoring relationships but received minimal preparation, making the role even more challenging.

My Fellowship group worked in partnership with Dr. Jackson and Dr. Zipporah Hightower 鈥� both former principals themselves 鈥� to create a revised mentoring structure, which will launch officially next fall. The new approach provides principal-led professional development throughout the year and 鈥渕aster mentors鈥� as a resource to other mentors. I am optimistic that the changes will better support both principal mentors and their mentees with the result of developing and retaining the district鈥檚 best and brightest leaders. Additionally, we will create a premier mentoring model that other districts can emulate.

Opportunities like these, which were a result of my Fellowship, made me feel validated and respected as a professional. The Fellowship reminded me of why I do this work and inspired me to continue leveraging my principal experience to make an impact at McDowell and on all public schools in Chicago.

鈥淢y love of kids grew exponentially with the desire to make sure every kid had a great teacher and that there are equitable and fair action for kids,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very kid deserves an amazing school.鈥�

At Edgebrook, Chad has honed in on the idea of great teachers as the key lever toward equitable education, cultivating an environment of trust and collaboration to encourage professional development.

Edgebrook is located on the Northwest corner of 海角直播and maintains an enrollment of about 480 students in grades K-8. Chad transitioned into the role of principal three聽years ago after previous leadership positions at the Social Justice High School and Blaine Elementary.

According to Chad, his main focus upon arriving at Edgebrook was to form relationships not only with, but between his teachers.

鈥淢y job is taking care of adults to make sure they take care of kids. I had two great kindergarten teachers who had never worked together despite working at same school for 12 years. Imagine the possibilities of them working together,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 facilitated this collaboration and at an end-of-year meeting, one of the kindergarten teachers said, 鈥業 want to thank my team mate; it has been amazing to work with my team mate and I have grown so much in the past year.鈥� If I can change the relationships in the way that the adults work in the building to help kids, then I鈥檓 doing my job.鈥�

Third grade teacher Elizabeth Tun said she believes Chad has been an instrumental part of fostering a strong teaching community. 鈥淢r. Weiden has helped me grow so much as a teacher,鈥� she said. 鈥淗is expectations are very high, but everyone is working toward reaching those goals.鈥�

Chad said that a formative part of his own professional development has been the made possible by The Fund, which he sees as a huge factor in developing his leadership skills with teachers. 鈥淚 wanted to be around like minded principals,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I loved that the learning addresses executive leadership, not just running the nuts and bolts of the school.鈥�

For Chad, being able to witness the transformation of a teacher under his leadership is the most rewarding part of being a principal. 鈥淚f an adult changes their perspective or changes their practice and a kid benefits, that makes me tremendously happy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 get to see adults change, and it鈥檚 really exciting.鈥�

鈥淚 try to make myself as accessible as professionally possible,鈥� Heather said. 鈥淢ost important, I reinforce to my students that we are in all this together and that our team can accomplish all of our goals if we cooperate.鈥�

Heather models this commitment to collaboration with her colleagues at SSFAA and beyond. For her 鈥� and most teachers – the best ideas are 鈥渂orrowed鈥� from other teachers, and she seeks opportunities to put this strategy in action. When she learned of The Fund鈥檚 inaugural Summer Design Program (SDP) in 2013, she quickly assembled a team from SSFAA.

鈥淲hen we saw the opportunity to get some assistance – both technical AND financial – with our plan to reduce wasted time and paper by using adaptive software, we knew we had to apply!鈥� Heather said. Through the SDP, Heather鈥檚 team used education software to integrate individualized instruction and assessment for students at SSFAA. This software compiled student data, allowing SSFAA teachers to personalize instruction without sacrificing time or resources.

Inspired by the success of the SDP, Heather sought more opportunities through The Fund. She applied to serve on The Fund鈥檚 Educator Advisory Committee (EAC), knowing it would help her see her best ideas in the classrooms of many, many colleagues.

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My name is Karin Breo and I鈥檝e been working in education for 20聽years. I鈥檝e been a principal for three years at the CICS Irving Park campus on the north side of Chicago. My favorite part of being a principal is learning and collaborating with my team to make our school the very best it can be for our students, families and teachers.

When I applied for the ,聽I was interested in fostering curiosity and drive with our students to motivate and challenge them. I felt that by enhancing teacher practice and building stronger relationships with our students, we聽would increase engagement.

Having the opportunity to be a part of the SDP聽challenged me to learn and to think about our approach differently.聽 I learned the importance of time, talent and technology and ways in which to redesign the school experience to better fit the needs of our students.

Through our follow-up support work with LEAP Innovations, we have received some of the best professional development of my career.聽 The work that we have done with them has had a measurable impact on the day-to-day lives of the students and families our school serves. The opportunity to work with consultants, such as Furman Brown of Sensible Innovation, has helped us to empathize with all members of our school community so that we can design a school experience that supports all students at their level.

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Thanks for sharing part of your story with us, Karin. Chicago’s students are lucky to have you!聽

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