Celebrating Our District’s Amazing Assistant Principals #APsRock

Spring break is behind us and April has officially begun, which means it’s time to celebrate our assistant principals! Every year, National Assistant Principals Week is when we thank our APs for their various contributions to our school communities across Chicago. 

It’s easy to see why #APsRock because they are the rockstars of our district. Whether they are assisting teachers with planning high-quality instruction, helping to create a positive school culture, or supporting our principals to lead our schools to new heights, they are always willing to go the extra mile for our students. 

This past year, our APs played an especially crucial role in supporting our parents and students during an extremely challenging time. They have always been ready to use their expertise and creativity when needed and have been unafraid to learn something new. The countless ways they have stepped up connect back to one thing: student growth. 

Take Ms. Vauncia Allen, an AP at Ruiz Elementary. She uses her teaching background to identify opportunities to amplify student perspectives, which led to the creation of her school’s first-ever Student Voice Committee. Working closely alongside her principal has led her to see that they share a like-mindedness where their students are always their top priority. 

Or how about Dr. Ernest Williams. As an AP at Ellington Elementary, he draws upon his own experiences as a CPS graduate to identify programs to narrow opportunity gaps for Black male students. He is incorporating the CPS Equity Framework into his work on developing an entire suite of supports to meet his students’ academic and social-emotional needs. 

APs like Ms. Allen and Dr. Williams are the norm in CPS. They have bold ideas for the future of their schools and aren’t afraid to work with parents and community members to make those ideas become reality. 

Celebrate your favorite AP this week using the Chicago Education Fund’s social media toolkit, which has prompts and graphics to help inspire you. We’ve already been blown away by all the highlights we’ve been seeing on social media—let’s keep the excitement going not just this week, but throughout the entire month of April!