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Programs for School Leaders

Professional development and networking opportunities to empower you as a leader.

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In collaboration with Chicago Public Schools, the charter community, and educators across the city, we offer innovative programs that combine valuable professional development with peer-to-peer support for you and your team. Our programs serve leaders of all types of schools in every neighborhood in the city — and at every stage in their careers.

Importantly, we recognize that leaders serving in schools and communities most harmed by disinvestment require more support. To serve you first, our program model is flexible and adapts based on educator feedback.

Every year, we work with 350+ of your colleagues, including principals, principal supervisors, assistant principals, and aspiring leaders. In a typical year, the educators in our programs support more than half of the city’s public school students.

Our 2026-27 Programs for School Leaders

LSC Mentorship Program and Resources

Provides structured, yearlong support to principals as they strengthen their collaboration with Local School Councils (LSCs). Also, access our resources to help school leaders and LSC work together toward student success.

Malott Educator Fellowship

A two-year program that provides a learning community and targeted coaching to support the unique needs of leaders in school communities who are striving for excellence despite challenges such as high student absenteeism and mobility, as well as low housing security.

Learning Labs

Accessible, practice-based professional learning experiences designed by CPS school leaders and civic education partners. They are designed around peer learning, collaboration, and real-time problem solving to deliver timely, practical, and immediately implementable solutions for common aspects of school leadership.

Executive Principal Program

Designed to expand the impact of strong, experienced principals by pairing them with high-potential principals (Partner Principals) to provide structured mentorship, coaching, and leadership development. The program focuses on achieving measurable school improvement outcomes and strengthening leadership practice.

Foundational Schools Pilot

Brings together principals leading small elementary schools in groups called triads to share best practices and build connections throughout the South and West sides of the city. Each triad includes two Focus Principals and one Lead Principal, all leading schools of similar size or context.

AI Leader Fellowship

A yearlong exploratory cohort for principals fueled by LEAP Innovations. This program centers on creating more time for instructional leadership by strategically using artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce the cognitive and time demands of daily leadership activities. The fellowship positions principals to identify appropriate, human-centered use cases for AI aligned to school priorities.