Giving Compass' Take:

• Chalkbeat sat down with three of the 17 new principals in Chicago public schools to discuss their goals for their respective school districts and all agreed that a priority would be building trust. 

•  Two of the three principals discussed changing the perceptions and negative attitudes of their schools and surrounding communities. How can parents get involved to help change people's views?

• Read about the role of race in Chicago's public schools and how it shapes education systems. 

When school starts next week, 17 Chicago Public Schools will have new principals.

Among these leaders are Femi Skanes, who will be at a high school in Morgan Park, not far from her home; Latasha Geverola, who has the top job at the South Austin elementary school where she has spent most of her career, and Maria Amador, who will be the third person in two years to take the helm at the Little Village school she is joining.

They face disparate challenges, to be sure, but all agree that their first order of business is building up trust among the school community — including among students and parents, faculty and staff.

Chalkbeat sat down with Skanes, Geverola and Amador to hear about their hopes for the coming school year.

Amador, a former assistant principal at Taft, will be the third principal in just two years at Multicultural Academy of Scholarship in Little Village. Beyond establishing ties with a school community that’s seen leaders come and go, she’s focusing on strengthening the school’s identity as an arts center.

Skanes, the outgoing principal at Al Raby High School in East Garfield Park, is joining Morgan Park High School on the South Side. As a longtime resident of Beverly, just north of Morgan Park, Skanes said she’s noticed there are negative perceptions about the school because its perks are not highlighted. She intends to change that.

Geverola, the incoming principal at Oscar DePriest Elementary School in South Austin, has worked at the school for most of her career. And now her “number one priority is bringing the community in, engaging families and parents.”

Read the full article about school principals by Elaine Chen at Chalkbeat