We asked each candidate to answer questions on topics important to the Senn High School community. Below are their answers.
Katie Denny
(pronouns: she / her)
Running for: Parent Representative
About the Candidate
In just a few sentences, please tell us about yourself.
I am a mom to 4 multi-racial children, an experienced parent to two children who are diverse learners, a product of CPS and a program administrator at Northwestern University. I have skills in organization, problem-solving and working with diverse stakeholders to achieve shared goals. I currently serve as the Vice-Chair of the Parent Advisory Council at Senn High School.
What is your relationship to Senn?
My son is a 9th grader at Senn and I live in the community.
Why do you want to be on the Senn LSC?
I am committed to ensure every student at Senn has access to high-quality education, equitable resources and opportunities that prepare them for success in college, careers and life. I believe serving as a parent representative on the Senn LSC will enable these goals to be accomplished.
Do you have any previous experience on a Local School Council? If so, tell us about it.
No I do not.
Where Your Candidate Stands
We asked each candidate a series of questions that important to the Senn High School community. Their answers are below.
Q1. What do you believe are the responsibilities of a Local School Council?
Candidate Answer:
The LSC has key responsibilities which include improving school performance and academic achievement, guiding and approve CIWP, budget including allocation of school funds and resources and evaluating the principal.
Q2. What core values do you hope to uphold as a member of the LSC?
Candidate Answer:
Most important to me are to have student-centered decision making, integrity & transparency and respectful & ethical leadership.
Q3. All Parent and Community LSC members are required to complete 9 mandatory training sessions within six months of taking office.
- If you are a current or former LSC member, have you completed all your training sessions?
- If you have not served on an LSC before, do you commit to competing all 9 training sessions within six months of taking office?
(Candidates were given a matrix of preselected answers. Below are the answers they selected)
Candidate Answer:
- I have never been an LSC member
- I commit to completing all required trainings within six months of taking office
Q4. What does effective communication for a principal entail, in your eyes? In what moments does principal communication matter most?
Candidate Answer:
I believe effective communication from leadership should be clear, timely and transparent. This includes being proactive rather than reactive. A principal's communication should strengthen trust within the community. Communication should be inclusive and accessible, especially with the diverse community like Senn. When the school is faced with urgency or uncertainty communication from the principal is so important. Families look to leadership for clarity, stability and reassurance.
Q5. What is your understanding of CPS's policies regarding ICE and federal agents in school buildings?
Candidate Answer:
CPS policy states that ICE and federal agents are not permitted inside schools without a criminal judicial warrant, CPS does not cooperate with immigration enforcement, and schools must act as safe, protective spaces for all families.
Q6. What kind of leadership would you expect to see from the principal when federal agents target our neighborhood and families?
Candidate Answer:
I would expect the principal to enforce CPS policy that ICE and federal agents are not permitted inside schools without a criminal judicial warrant, communicate transparently and center student and family safety. Senn must remain a place where every family feels safe, protected and valued - no matter their immigration status.
Q7. LSC members are responsible for developing and monitoring the school's improvement plan (CIWP), which includes goals around academic success. Describe your understanding of Senn's academic programs. What academic priorities will you emphasize in your role on the LSC?
Candidate Answer:
As a LSC representative, I would emphasize all 3 programs: IB Middle Years Programme and IB Career-related Programme, Senn Arts Program (including Dance, Music, Theatre & Visual Arts) and Major Studies Program. My priorities would include: strengthening program coherence, protecting high quality instruction, supporting & stabilizing the Arts program, addressing climate related academic barriers, ensuring equitable access & aligning the budget strategically with these goals.
Q8. One of the key responsibilities of the LSC is aligning the school's budget to the CIWP.
- If you are or have been a Senn LSC representative, provide an example or two of what you have done to ensure both ongoing and annual budgetary transparency?
- For candidates who have not served on Senn's LSC: Describe your approach to budget accountability, transparency, and oversight.
Candidate Answer:
I take seriously our responsibility to ensure that Senn’s budget is aligned with the school’s improvement plan & student needs. I would make sure major spending decisions are directly tied to CIWP goals and support ongoing monthly oversight. My commitment is to ensure that every dollar supports high quality instruction, a safe school environment, & equitable opportunity for all Senn students.
Q9. What should the role of the LSC be if the principal attempts to quietly make changes without transparency or community input?
Candidate Answer:
If this occurs, the LSC should exercise oversight for public explanation and budget alignment with CIWP, host community meetings to ensure the community input is heard and valued and document the lack of transparency in the principal evaluation.
Q10. When families consistently learn important information from outside sources rather than school leadership, what should the LSC do?
Candidate Answer:
If this occurs, the LSC needs to hold leadership accountable for proactive communication which may include looking at messages and if they are being sent in a timely matter. Also looking at the avenue messages are sent that might not reach all demographics. The LSC should review communication to parents and the community, use LSC meetings to provide facts to families and look at communication failures as a performance issue in principal evaluation. These would ensure longer term transparency.
Q11. The 5Essentials Survey (link), developed by the University of Chicago in collaboration with CPS, identifies strengths and weaknesses across five areas:
- Effective Leaders (Score: 28, Weak)
- Collaborative Teachers (Score: 47, Neutral)
- Involved Families (Score: 40, Neutral)
- Supportive Environment (Score: 50, Neutral)
- Ambitions Instruction (Not scored due to data error)
What stands out to you and what action steps would you take as an LSC representative to address the challenge areas?
Candidate Answer:
In this report what stands out to me is outstanding student reported instructional quality (a major asset), extremely low trust in leadership and school management, severe concerns around safety & emotional well being, weak family engagement & low coherence across schoolwide systems. My priorities would be to rebuilding trust, transparency and instructional leadership capacity, address safety & student emotional health & strengthen family engagement and influence in school decisions.
Q12. Describe your approach to equity. How would you ensure that decisions made by the LSC support and do not proportionally harm Black, Latino, Indigenous, immigrant, or low-income students? What systems and practices would you support to make sure marginalized voices are not just heard, but actually shape outcomes?
Candidate Answer:
My approach is grounded in the CPS Equity Framework, which defines equity as ensuring every student - regardless of race, income, language, or background - gets the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. I would apply this framework to every vote. Every LSC decision must expand opportunity, not narrow it - and every student at Senn deserves to feel seen, valued and supported.
Q13. One of the key responsibilities of LSC members is to evaluate the school's principal. This LSC term will coincide with the contract renewal timeframe for Senn's principal. Describe how you will approach this responsibility.
What key performance indicators should be the primary focus factors when deciding whether to renew a principal's contract.
Candidate Answer:
I believe the LSC must rely on clear, measurable indicators that reflect the health and direction of the school. The most important factors include: student learning & academic growth, implementation of CIWP, school climate and safety, organizational leadership and equity in access and outcomes. These indicators together show whether a principal is not only maintaining the school but truly moving it forward in a way that is academically strong, equitable, and centered on student well being.
Additional Candidate Materials
Candidates were offered the opportunity to provide the public with additional materials to be displayed on their profile page. Those materials are provided here.
