The Chicago Board of Education approved two central office appointments, naming Evangelina Covarrubias as chief equity officer and Dr. Marilou Rebolledo as chief teaching and learning officer to strengthen academic programs and equity initiatives for the district’s more than 315,000 students.
Township High School District 214 received a $381,851 state grant to expand youth apprenticeship programs that connect students to career pathways before graduation. The funding supports work-based learning across the district’s six northwest suburban high schools.
Concordia University Chicago announced a $5.9 million donor-funded initiative to convert classrooms and offices in its Christopher Center into modern science laboratories at its River Forest campus. Construction begins in December, with completion expected by August 2027.
Americans for Prosperity-Illinois is campaigning against a 1% school facilities sales tax referendum in Adams, Lake and Tazewell counties, saying the measure has never reduced property taxes where it has passed.
Frank McCormick, who taught in Waukegan District 60 for about a decade before resigning in 2022, says administrators directed staff to inflate grades and suppress discipline records.
Eight Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago received the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Award for academic excellence, the second year of the statewide recognition program. The honored schools span urban Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs including Evanston and Westchester.
Penguin Random House and the American Library Association’s United for Libraries division announced a 2027 grant program awarding $25,000 in cash grants and in-kind book donations to rural and small libraries across the United States. Applications open Dec. 8, 2026, and are limited to Friends of Library groups serving communities of 25,000 or fewer residents.
Lincoln Elementary Spanish teacher Rocío Jacoby was named the 2026 Teacher of the Year by the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Oak Park Elementary School District 97 announced Monday. The honor is the council’s highest individual recognition for excellence in language instruction.
Students from Evanston Township High School say they were targeted with racist and homophobic slurs by New Trier High School students at a football game at Ryan Field. The two districts have launched a joint investigation and are asking the public to come forward with information.
Rush University College of Nursing doctoral student Kristie Coleman has been selected as a Jonas Scholar for the 2026-28 cohort, joining 80 doctoral nursing students chosen nationally for academic excellence and a commitment to preparing the next generation of nurse educators.