Meet the Team
The Department of Personalized Learning is comprised of talented and dedicated staff members and school-based leads.
If you would like to speak with a team member, please hover over the team member's picture to connect via email.
Errika BakerDirector of Personalized Learning
BIO
Errika Baker is the Director of Personalized Learning for Chicago Public Schools. Prior to joining the PL Team, Errika served for nearly four years as the principal at University of Chicago Charter School - Donoghue Campus. During her tenure as principal, she led her school through a personalized learning redesign process and was a Breakthrough Schools Award Winner. In preparation for a principalship, Errika was a resident principal and received leadership training and certification through New Leaders for New Schools. Prior to the becoming a school principal, Errika served for four years as the program director of Suder Montessori, one of three public Montessori schools in Chicago, where she was previously a founding staff member and preK-3rd grade instructor. Before beginning her teaching career at Poe Classical School, she worked as a HR consultant for PriceWaterhouse Coopers. Errika is a product of CPS as she graduated from the Murray Elementary and Kenwood High School magnet and gifted programs. She is a native Chicago South Side resident, where she was born and raised. |
Samantha SemrowCoordinator of Personalized Learning
BIO
Samantha Semrow serves as the Coordinator of Personalized Learning for CPS. A former college counselor at two high-need, majority first-generation high schools in the Chicagoland area, she has returned home to Chicago after earning a master’s degree in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University. Her passion for educational advocacy is focused on empowering learners regardless of and in response to their environment as well as improving systemic structures that create or hinder opportunities for students and their communities. She is a perpetual analyzer and avid researcher of anything and everything. |
Lydia DiSabatino
Data Analyst
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BIO
Lydia DiSabatino is the Data Analyst for Personalized Learning (PL) at CPS. Prior to joining the team, she completed her PhD and MA in Sociology at Indiana University. The daughter and granddaughter of teachers, Lydia drew on this background to guide her focus on education policy during her graduate studies. Her research centered around two main areas: how top-down policies filter through large organizations, and the role of non-state actors in education policy development and promotion. While at IU, she worked on designing several research projects that gathered original nationwide data, honing her skills in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Lydia is excited to be working on PL and other programs in the district that will help empower and support both teachers and students. |
Michala BellSEL Specialist
BIO
Michala Bell, a graduate of University of Chicago Social Service Administration, proudly proclaims that Social Work is not just what she does, it’s who she is. Throughout her 11 year tenure with Chicago Public Schools, she has diligently provided Social Work services for students in grades Pre-Kindergarten thru 12th. In an effort to expand her reach, she served as a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Specialist supporting 10 CPS high schools participating in a US Department of Education Promoting Student Resilience (PSR) grant in pursuit of transforming their schools into a more trauma sensitive environment. She utilized a team coaching model that enabled school leadership teams to develop a shared vision and action plan to build and implement sustainable evidence-based and trauma-informed policies and practices. The way in which Michala connects with people and inspires them to initiate action are hallmarks of her purpose driven career path. “I am continuously in pursuit of empowering others to be curious, independent, and lifelong learners.” |
Savannah BellInstructional Leader
BIO
Savannah began her career in education as a 4th grade math teacher at Bradwell School of Excellence in Chicago’s South Shore Neighborhood. She then taught both 4th and 5th grades at The University of Chicago Charter School - Donoghue Campus. During her time at Donoghue, Savannah had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of her school’s core design team, where she worked with administration to develop a whole school redesign blueprint and became a Full Implementation Grant Awardee as part of LEAP’s Breakthrough Schools Cohort II. Savannah transitioned into the role of multi-classroom leader (instructional coach) where she was charged with coaching and development of teachers, as well as facilitating the adoption of Personalized Learning from pilot classrooms to whole school at Donoghue. Savannah is excited to return to Chicago after spending a year in Boston studying School Leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education and working as a resident principal at a fully inclusive elementary school in Boston’s West Roxbury Community. Savannah is extremely enthusiastic about Competency Based Learning at an elementary level and passionately believes that Personalized Learning is what will urgently transform America’s education system into one which provides equitable schools and opportunities for ALL children. |
Laura KessingerInstructional Leader
BIO
Laura, a native San Diegan, began her teaching and leading career in CPS is 2007. She is a middle school specialist with endorsements in all core instructional areas, teaching at schools on both the west and south side. After teaching for six years she sought to deepen her impact across Chicago becoming an instructional coach for Teach for America, for three years she coached and mentored first and second year teachers strengthening instruction and SEL practices across the city. Then seeking to deepen her content knowledge she accepted a high school leadership position at CICS Ellison in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood. There she served as the instructional coach for the math and science departments, creating and leading the direction for innovative STEM instruction. She also created a Computer Science program for the school. Laura has a strong belief in CPS students and communities. She is especially passionate about middle grades curriculum, instruction, and access to rigorous and relevant math, technology, and science experiences. |
Laura MassierSEL Specialist
BIO
Laura Massier began her career in education as a Golden Apple Scholar, shadowing and assisting in Chicago Public Schools immediately following her high school graduation. After earning her degree in Elementary Education at Illinois State University, Laura taught 4th grade for two years near her hometown of Machesney Park, IL. Missing Chicago, she applied to Walt Disney Magnet School where she taught a variety of grade levels, predominantly third grade, where she also served as a team leader. After earning a master’s degree in School Counseling, she accepted a position as case manager and school counselor at John C. Coonley Elementary. Laura has always been interested in how to best support individuals with disabilities, and during her time at Coonley, she chose to return to the classroom as an inclusion teacher while she finished her Ed.D. in Special Education. As a SEL Specialist for the Department of Personalized Learning, Laura is excited to work with schools in developing lifelong learners who have the necessary skills to take on 21st century challenges. |
Kai MurrayInstructional Leader
BIO
Humility, agency and commitment to lifelong learning have anchored Kai’s tenure with Chicago Public Schools as a student and teacher. Prior to her role as Instructional Leader, Kai taught grades 1st-5th grades on the south and west side of Chicago for 14 years. She has also served as a mentor-resident coach training new teachers for AUSL for 6 years. Her entry to education started as a Golden Apple Scholar of Illinois. She was part of the 1st statewide class of 60 scholars which helped her to obtain a Bachelor’s in Education from Illinois State University. She also holds masters degrees in Educational Leadership and Curriculum and Instruction from the American College of Education. Kai is excited to collaborate with schools teams as they implement the personalized learning model that meets the needs of all stakeholders, and ensures that all students have viable post-secondary options. |
Nilufar RezaiSEL Specialist
BIO
After working as a School Counselor at a PK-5th Chicago Public School (CPS) for 4+ years, Ms. Rezai was promoted in October 2016 to the role of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) specialist in the Personalized Learning department. Since college, she has worked as a K-12 educator, teacher trainer, mental health professional, and curriculum designer, and presented at local, state, and international conferences. She is certified as a PATHS Education Worldwide affiliate trainer, and a member of the Council of Distinguished Educators for the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. Nilufar is an advocate for social justice, youth empowerment, and the social-emotional and spiritual education of children and adolescents. She is a member of ASCA and ISCA and has a Professional Educator License in School Counseling from DePaul University, and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Chicago-SSA. |
Kevin RussellInstructional Leader
BIO
Having come from a family of educators, Kevin Russell is acutely aware of the tremendous influence educators have upon their students and the need for excellent teachers in our schools. For that reason Kevin chose to pursue a degree in Social Studies Education from Purdue University. Upon graduation, instead of immediately going into the classroom, Kevin volunteered for 10 months with Americorps; his focus was on restoring the Gulf Coast in the immediate post-Hurricane Katrina time period. This experience taught Kevin, amongst other things, how to more deeply empathize with people who are going through difficult times in their lives. Following his time with Americorps, Kevin accepted a job in Chicago through Teach for America at Hirsch and then Austin High School, where he taught and served as department chair for the next 8 years. He is currently the Instructional Leader in the Personalized Learning Department at CPS, where he empowers teachers to be lifelong learners in their pursuit of innovative school models. |
Emily ShoresInstructional Leader
BIO
Emily Shores entered the field of education as a Teach For America Corps Member, teaching Pre-K at Gresham School of Excellence on Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood. She completed her Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education and English as a Second Language Endorsement through Dominican University in 2016. Emily spent the following summer as an LRTT (Limited Resource Teacher Training) fellow, coaching and providing high-quality teacher training to educators in Ghana. Emily returned to Ghana as a LRTT team leader, recruiting, preparing, and supporting a team of 24 fellows to facilitate sustainable professional development for over 150 primary teachers in Ghana. Emily continues to advocate for educational equity as a Personalized Learning Instructional Leader for Chicago Public Schools. |
