Each member of our department brings a unique perspective, a variety of experiences and talents, and an unwavering dedication to serving Chicago’s children and families. ​All together, we have 331 years of experience in the field of education, 223 years of experience serving Chicago Public Schools, 218 years of experience teaching students of all ages from Pre-K to University, and 126 years of experience leading others. Learn more about each member of our department below.

Errika Baker Perkins

Executive Director of Advanced Learning & Specialty Programs

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Errika Baker Perkins currently holds the position of Executive Director of Advanced Learning & Specialty Programs for Chicago Public Schools. In this capacity, she is responsible for directing the support, implementation, scale, and sustainability of a diverse portfolio of district-wide programs, including International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Personalized Learning, Magnet, and Gifted programs. Her strategic leadership ensures the effective delivery of these programs across the district. Before transitioning to a central office systems leadership role, Errika served for four years as an elementary school principal, where she led a transformative personalized learning redesign process. This innovative work was recognized with a Breakthrough Schools Award from Next Generation Learning Challenges. Earlier in her career, Errika was instrumental in developing a public Montessori school in Chicago, serving as Program Director, a founding staff member, and a PreK-3rd grade teacher. Errika earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois - Urbana and an M.A. in Elementary Education from Chicago State University. Demonstrating her commitment to ongoing scholarship, she is presently a doctoral candidate at Illinois State University, and anticipates receiving her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Equity, and Inclusion in December 2025.

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Savannah Bell

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Manager of  Personalized & Competency-Based Learning

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Savannah began her career in education as a 4th and 5th grade teacher on the South Side of Chicago. During her time in the classroom, she was also a part of her school’s 4-person team that was charged with reimagining what school could look like as part of Next Generation Learning Challenge’s Breakthrough Schools Competition. The team developed a blueprint for school transformation, and was one of six schools to receive over $300K in grant funding to turn their plan into reality. She then led the coaching & development of the staff in order to facilitate the adoption of personalized, competency based learning from pilot classrooms to a full school model. Savannah is extremely passionate about the adoption of personalized, competency based learning as she believes that it is how we can fulfill our country’s promise of providing a high quality education for ALL children. Savannah holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Cincinnati and an MEd in School Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to her role as Manager of G&PBL- she has also served as a teacher, school-based coach, resident principal & district personalized learning specialist.

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Laura Massier

Manager of Incubation and Certification

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Laura Massier is the Manager of Incubation and Certification on ALSP. Her teaching career began immediately after high school when she was given the opportunity to shadow in Chicago Public Schools as a Golden Apple Scholar. Prior to coming to Central Office, Laura taught at Walt Disney Magnet School and served as a school counselor and case manager at John C. Coonley Elementary. In 2018, she joined the CPS Personalized Learning Team as a Personalized Learning SEL Support Specialist. In this role, she developed her skills in helping schools grow their programs, contributed to the creation of the Personalized Learning Framework and Continuum, and assisted schools in assessing their own program development. She was thrilled to take on the work of helping schools develop and assess their programs in an official capacity in 2022 when she accepted her current role.

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Yolanda Sanders

​Program Manager, Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP)

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Yolanda Sanders, EdD, is the Program Manager for the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) within Chicago Public Schools' Department of Advanced Learning & Specialty Programs. With over 30 years dedicated to education, primarily with Chicago Public Schools, Yolanda's career is marked by numerous accolades, including awards from the Oppenheimer Family Foundation and BP A+ for Energy, plus a Golden Apple nomination. Before working in the central office, she was a National Board Certified (NBC) teacher and a mentor to NBC candidates. Her extensive experience includes roles such as STEM Specialist and STEM Initiatives Manager for Chicago Public Schools, assistant principal in School District 162, and adjunct professor. Academically, Yolanda holds two master's degrees in education (curriculum and instruction, from Chicago State University, and educational leadership, from DePaul University), along with a Doctor of Education from Loyola University. Driven by a passion for emotional well-being, she earned an MA in clinical mental health counseling from Northwestern University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and Board Certified Coach. Yolanda is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of others through her work in both education and mental health.

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Brittany Guy

Director of Specialty Programs

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Brittany Guy is the Director of Specialty Programs for Chicago Public Schools. Since joining CPS in 2019, she has expanded her support from initially working with the personalized learning program to include schools with a variety of specialty programs. In her current role, she focuses on ensuring program quality across schools with gifted, personalized learning, and magnet programs, including those currently in implementing a federal Magnet Schools Assistance Programs (MSAP) grant. Before her move to Chicago, Brittany served as the Program Manager for Personalized Learning for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina. There, she led the development of a program designed to create differentiated, student-led learning experiences, as well as shifts in early elementary school grading practices. With a background as a middle school math teacher and an instructional coach, she has focused on providing individual support to help every learner grow. She was a contributor to North Carolina's plan for scaling personalized learning, a member of the NC Governor’s Teacher Network for action research on personalized professional learning, and more recently, a working group member for the EdTech Genome Project, focused on professional learning. She is dedicated to fostering high-quality learning experiences for all students across Chicago.

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Manager of Gifted & Magnet

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Manager of International Baccalureate (IB)

Maram Sweis

Director of Advanced Learning 

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Maram is a passionate educator with experience in stateside and international teaching, program and curriculum coordination, and school and district-level leadership spanning PK-12. She currently serves as the Director of Advanced Learning in the Department of Advanced Learning and Specialty Programs at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), where she leads the district's vision for Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. In this role, she guides a team of managers and specialists and collaborates across departments to expand access, strengthen instructional support, and ensure that rigor is both inclusive and sustainable across CPS schools. Prior to becoming Director, Maram served as the Manager of Advanced Learning and previously as the District IB Coordinator for high schools. Her work is grounded in a commitment to educational equity. Maram is especially focused on increasing access to AP and IB for historically underrepresented student groups, removing systemic barriers and closing opportunity gaps so that all students can thrive in advanced coursework. She is also a graduate of the Partners in Policymaking Leadership Training, a nationally recognized program that deepened her advocacy for disability rights and strengthened her capacity to influence education policy and systems change on the state and federal level.

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Preston Lewis

Manager, Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP)

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Manager of Advanced Placement (AP)