Claudia Ortiz took the helm as principal of Tarkington Elementary in 2021. She has 25 years of experience in 海角直播 鈥� 17 of them in the classroom 鈥� and leads with a deep commitment to equity, multiculturalism, and strong instruction, shaped in part by the fact that she is a first-generation college graduate.

Principal Claudia Ortiz of Tarkington Elementary School, 2025

Student-Centered Opportunity Driven by Data

When students returned to in person learning after the pandemic, Claudia worked to reimagine how Tarkington supported its most impacted students. She recognized that effective transformation had to be grounded in evidence, so she dedicated much of her first year at Tarkington to a rigorous process of data collection to uncover student and staff needs.听

Claudia visited classrooms, launched staff surveys, and reviewed student performance data to uncover the most pressing challenges. She saw that English learners and students with disabilities needed the most support, as they were struggling more than their peers with academics, inconsistencies in instruction, and emotional disengagement following the disruptions of the pandemic.

Informed by this data, Claudia worked with her leadership team to clearly identify student needs: stronger teacher-student relationships, more culturally relevant and engaging instructional materials, and an emotionally supportive learning environment. They began changing instructional practices around these findings, embedding social-emotional learning (SEL) into daily routines, facilitating more collaborative teacher planning, and integrating culturally responsive teaching strategies.

Implementation & Impact听

In 2021-22, Claudia and her team prioritized rebuilding instructional and behavioral systems at Tarkington Elementary. They adopted 海角直播鈥� Skyline English language arts (ELA) curriculum for third through eighth grades and aligned kindergarten through second grade dual-language classrooms with parallel Spanish-language resources to ensure coherence and equity. Teachers used the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) standards to plan lessons by starting with the end goals in mind. This helped them include high expectations in their everyday teaching.

By the 2022-23 school year, Claudia increasingly distributed leadership through the instructional leadership team (ILT) and a new dual-language ILT. These teacher-led groups met weekly to study the structure of IAR test questions, share teaching strategies through peer-led training, and demonstrate classroom practices that match the format of the IAR. Meanwhile, Tarkington鈥檚 multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) 鈥� a schoolwide framework that provides varying levels of academic, behavioral, and social-emotional support based on individual student needs 鈥� grew stronger. Claudia hand-selected teachers to lead targeted small-group interventions and intensive, individualized supports designed for students with the greatest academic or behavioral needs based on their instructional strengths and readiness to lead. She strategically elevated in-house educators into interventionist roles, offering coaching and leadership development to expand their impact.听

As part of her MTSS strategy, Claudia gradually built the Power of Two initiative, which focused on identifying students whose proficiencies were just below grade level for targeted support and frequent progress checks. Over time, teachers began using 海角直播’ rigor rubrics and walkthrough tools to provide weekly feedback and participate in peer observations, helping to create a schoolwide culture of continuous improvement. Survey data later showed that over 90% of teachers found the feedback cycles and peer learning to be valuable.

Tarkington鈥檚 matched its improved instructional coherence with robust social-emotional support. This included a schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) system with monthly student celebrations, confidential mental health counseling partnerships, and a phone-free policy that reduced distractions. Together, these efforts led to fewer behavioral incidents and significantly higher student engagement. Between 2021 and 2024, Tarkington moved from “Targeted Support” to “Commendable” status on the Illinois Report Card.听

As Claudia looks ahead, she hopes to deepen teacher leadership across all grade levels and continue refining data-driven supports so that every student is both challenged and prepared for achievement.听

Apply This Learning

1. Build coherence through curriculum redesign.

Recognizing gaps in the existing curriculum, Claudia led a schoolwide shift to the Skyline ELA framework, starting with third through eighth grades. For early grades, especially in dual-language classrooms, Claudia secured Spanish-language curriculum materials that mirrored Skyline鈥檚 rigor and structure. Today, all students across grade levels receive coherent, high-quality instruction, and teachers use a shared framework and language to plan and assess student learning.

2. Invest in shared leadership and teacher growth.

At Tarkington, teacher voice and leadership are central to school improvement. Claudia nurtured a distributed-leadership model, restructuring the ILT and inviting teachers to lead professional development, model lessons, and even conduct classroom observations using 海角直播-aligned rubrics. Peer visits became common practice, building trust and a culture of collaboration. Teachers receive weekly feedback on instruction, and many choose to engage in coaching and book studies. Every teacher leader is carefully selected based on interest and readiness to support peers, not just experience alone.

3. Ensure equity through MTSS and SEL support.

Claudia鈥檚 vision for equity includes strong academic and social-emotional support systems. Through initiatives like the Power of Two, students just below grade-level proficiency are grouped together to receive extra tutoring from teachers, with their progress closely monitored. At the same time, SEL is embedded throughout the school: The team implemented a PBIS system to recognize and celebrate positive behavior while reducing distractions from cell phones by introducing secure phone lockers.

For the students at Beard, Manda鈥檚 work constitutes much more than a 鈥渟mall dent,鈥� as she has made major efforts to create a safe, comfortable space for her students, 听as well as to share the importance of supporting schools focused on special education.

Beard is located in the Norwood Park neighborhood of 海角直播and maintains an enrollment of about 200 students in grades Pre-K-3. Manda has been principal at the school, which specifically serves students with all types of disabilities and preschool students, for four years now.

Manda originally came to Beard with the intention of challenging herself to adapt to a new environment. 鈥淚 thought that the opportunity to work at Beard would be unbelievable great experience. It was a niche that I hadn鈥檛 had the opportunity to work with.鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never on a large scale worked with children on the autism spectrum or with profound needs [and] I thought this would be an amazing new opportunity for learning.鈥�

According to Manda, one successful method of engaging students with autism is community-based field trips that empower students and families to move outside of their comfort zones. 鈥淚 believe strongly in community based field trips. The nature of autism is such that some children will have outbursts and will be loud, and it embarrasses our families,鈥� she said. 鈥淸At Beard], you are who you are and you are loved for who you are. We try to create opportunities to go all over the city because many of our parents think it鈥檚 too hard to do on their own.鈥澨� 鈥淭he field trips we take students on have an academics embedded within them and are aligned to the curriculum and social emotional needs of the students. 鈥�

Manda attributes much of her leadership style and success to her experience in The Fund鈥檚 CPS Principal Fellowship. 鈥淸The Fellowship] was some of the best trainings I鈥檝e ever had in my life 鈥� In hindsight, I was able to bring back a lot to the school,鈥� she said. 鈥淸I] was being exposed to different professors and ideologies. The impacts have allowed me to continue the success of the school 鈥� I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat if I could.鈥�

In the future, Manda hopes to innovate further and share the successes she has achieved at Beard with in order to foster a sense of collaboration. 鈥淚 always look to push the bar, not only for our kids, but [for those who] student teach or have observations happen here,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want to share what we have learned [and] we want to help other schools implement programs like ours.鈥�