Vanessa Puentes
Vanessa Puentes is native to Chicago and raised in a bilingual home to parents of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education from DePaul University and obtained a Master’s of Arts in Educational Leadership from Concordia University Chicago.
With nearly two decades of experience supporting students, teachers, and families, Vanessa has always had a passion to help others in her community, and it all began in her classroom. She started her educational career as a high school English teacher at Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen. She later taught at John Hancock College Prep High School (“Hancock”) in West Lawn and moved into a teacher-leader role as the Dean of Students. Vanessa took on a greater leadership role as Assistant Principal of Farragut Career Academy in the Little Village area. She returned to Hancock as an Assistant Principal to support the school’s transition from a neighborhood program to a selective enrollment model. She was awarded a four-year contract by her Local School Council, becoming the first Latina principal of a selective enrollment high school in Chicago Public Schools.
During her tenure as principal, she worked diligently with city leaders and community partners to ensure the smooth transition of over 1,000 families into a new $90 million-dollar facility on the southwest side of Chicago. This included successfully adding resources such as increased public transportation services, additional parking and traffic signage and safety for families beyond the students in her building. Hancock moved up in city, state, and national rankings, earning an “Exemplary” status in the state during 2023. Hancock earned national recognition as a 2020 National Blue Ribbon Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing School for African-American and Latino students. This coveted award, granted by the US Department of Education, recognizes schools for its academic excellence as evidenced by student achievement measures.
Vanessa currently works as an Instructional Support Leader with Chicago Public Schools’ high school Network (15). In her role, she supports the instructional development and school improvement of high schools within her network portfolio and provides professional learning to educational leaders throughout the district at conferences such as the Summer Leadership Institute.
Vanessa has participated in CPS’ Great Expectations Mentoring program, a pipeline designed to advance African-American males and Latinx leaders. She has served as a principal mentor to rising administrators through the Chicago Leadership Collaborative Pathway Two, and is a mentor in the LEAD with CPS leadership program.
She is also a proud mother of two amazing children, Audelio Javier (AJ) and Juliette, who continue to inspire her daily in her commitment to equitable educational experiences for Chicago’s youth.
