Michael Durr, a Chicago Public School graduate, began his career through Teachers for Chicago and taught English at John Hope Community Academy. He later served as department chair and senior advisor. Mr. Durr became an assistant principal at John Hope College Preparatory High School in 2004 and has served as principal since 2005. John Hope has approximately one thousand students—99 percent are African American and 93 percent are free or reduced-price lunch recipients. Recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a grant to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to implement a groundbreaking high school transformation plan. John Hope was selected to be one of the initial fourteen schools within CPS that will be involved with and benefit from this program. Additionally, John Hope has earned the highest ACT scores in the region, and maintains the fourth highest college acceptance rate among Chicago neighborhood schools. Mr. Durr’s educational and leadership vision lies in the school’s motto, “Excellence without Excuses.” Mr. Durr received an MEd from Loyola University and an MEd in administration and supervision from Concordia University.