Lauren Norwood

Lauren Norwood is a veteran school leader in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) with over 15 years of dedicated work in K-12 education. She currently leads Burke School (PK-8) as principal, guiding a learning community rooted in collaboration, perseverance, reflection, and academic rigor. Under her leadership, the school’s mission is focused on creating a positive, supportive environment where learners work together to reach their full potential, emphasizing a rigorous and critical curriculum that promotes student ownership and resilience. This vision has yielded remarkable results, with her students showing 144% growth in Reading and 120% growth in Math during the 2025 school year.

Prior to her tenure at Burke, Norwood was the principal of Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies in Evanston/Skokie District 65, a role she took on in 2015. Her extensive leadership experience within CPS includes serving as a coach, mentor, reading facilitator, curriculum coordinator, and parent coordinator. Earlier in her career, she worked as a third-grade teacher, middle school reading teacher, and librarian. Norwood is also a recognized advocate for strong teacher evaluation, having been among the first evaluators to pilot the Danielson Framework for teacher growth in CPS. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from National Louis University, a master’s in Reading from Concordia University, and another master’s in Educational Administration from Governors State University.