Education

Griffith High School senior Bryce Graham, 18, (left) and Highland High School senior Alex Waszak, 18, are carpenters in training at the Hammond Area Career Center, where they stand in a practice village that is put up and taken down by students on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Graham, Waszak and two other Highland High School seniors will be graduating with a carpentry certification and compete nationally in June in Atlanta, Georgia. (John Smierciak / for the Post-Tribune)

Northwest Indiana high school quartet to show off construction skills

By Maya Wilkins

May 4, 2025 at 1:40 p.m.

In June, the boys will compete in the Skills USA Championships in Atlanta, focusing on...

Eric Washington is being promoted from associate principal to principal at Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills. (District 228)

Eric Washington to become principal of Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills

By Olivia Stevens

May 3, 2025 at 5:10 a.m.

Eric Washington, who has worked in Bremen District 228 for 11 years, will replace Ron...

Micaela Ortiz Arredondo, known as Ms. Mica, hands out free breakfast to students before class begins at 8:15 a.m. at Hibbard Elementary School on May 2, 2025, in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood. Ms. Mica is a beloved custodian at the school and a top 10 finalist for the Cintas Custodian of the Year Award. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

CPS custodian finalist in national honor recognizing the often unsung work of school maintenance

By Laura Rodríguez Presa

May 3, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Micaela "Mica" Ortiz, who works at Hibbard Elementary School in Albany Park, was recognized as...

People outside a combined shelter, used to house migrants and the homeless, in Chicago on April 10, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Early months of combined migrant, homeless shelters in Chicago see success, structural challenges

By Caroline Kubzansky

May 2, 2025 at 5:02 p.m.

Nearly three years after buses of migrants began arriving in Chicago from the southern border,...

FILE - In this photo taken Jan. 17, 2016, a student looks at questions during a college test preparation class at Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Md. The SAT exam will move from paper and pencil to a digital format, administrators announced Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, saying the shift will boost its relevancy as more colleges make standardized tests optional for admission. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Bradshaw: Test-optional policies can expand access, obscure data

By Gerald Bradshaw

May 1, 2025 at 1:53 p.m.

Test-optional admissions policies may expand access for some students. But they also obscure the data...

Víctor Gómez hugs his wife Ingrid Gonzalez as he is honored as the 2025 Illinois Teacher of the Year at East Leyden High School in Franklin Park on April 30, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Bilingual science teacher at East Leyden High School named Illinois Teacher of the Year

By Steve Metsch

May 1, 2025 at 1:13 p.m.

East Leyden High School science teacher Víctor Gómez was surprised by visiting state officials at...

Dolly Parton performs during an event celebrating the Kansas statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in Overland Park, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Indiana budget cuts to Imagination Library may limit program’s reach

By Alexandra Kukulka

April 30, 2025 at 4:16 p.m.

After the state legislature passed a biennial budget that slashed funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination...

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is seen on Thursday, April 17, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Nick Oxford)

Chief Justice John Roberts might hold key Supreme Court vote over first publicly funded religious charter school

By Mark Sherman

April 30, 2025 at 4:06 p.m.

Chief Justice John Roberts appears to hold the key vote over whether the Supreme Court...

From left, Tracy Campbell, assistant director, Nina Burton, director of the Woodland Child Development Center, and LeBarron Burton, president of the center's board, snip a ribbon marking the grand opening of a new Gary site on Wednesday. (Carole Carlson/for Post-Tribune)

New pilot program in Gary takes aim at childcare desert

By Carole Carlson

April 30, 2025 at 3:58 p.m.

The grand opening of the Woodland Child Development Center in Gary marked the end of...

Mount Carmel High School senior Matt Malloy, of Beverly, stands with his Chicago High School Journalist of the Year awards during a recent ceremony at Northwestern University. (Tim Baffoe)

Mount Carmel student named Chicago High School Journalist of the Year

By C. R. Walker

April 30, 2025 at 2:44 p.m.

Beverly resident Matt Malloy won the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago’s High School Journalist of...

A sign announces a transfer event at the College of DuPage’s transfer services center on its Glen Ellyn campus on April 16, 2025. (Molly Morrow / The Beacon-News)

With new University of Illinois program in the works, students and community colleges in Aurora area discuss transfer process, challenges

By Molly Morrow

April 30, 2025 at 11:03 a.m.

Students and community college staff in the Aurora area say partnerships with four-year schools make...

Chicago Public Schools headquarters seen on Oct. 4, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)

Feds probe Chicago Public Schools over alleged racial discrimination in Black Student Success Plan

By Nell Salzman

April 30, 2025 at 6:39 p.m.

The federal government launched an investigation into CPS related to allegations of discrimination in the...

Kobie Robinson Jr., 13, conducts a buoyancy test and records the water level after placing a shell in a graduated cylinder filled with water during a lesson with the Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program at Kenwood Academy High School on April 26, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

Engines of change: Chicago program puts young minds on the fast track to STEM

By Nell Salzman

April 29, 2025 at 9:53 a.m.

Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program offers enrichment classes for historically underrepresented students.