Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is celebrating the contributions teachers make both in and outside the classroom this week as the District celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week. Since 1984, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has designated the first full week in May as Teacher Appreciation Week to honor the people who have dedicated their careers to supporting and educating children. CPS joins the National PTA and districts across the nation as schools and communities come together to recognize the significant contributions teachers make in classrooms every day. Recognizing the importance of recruiting and retaining high-quality, diverse educators for CPS classrooms, the District developed a comprehensive strategy called Teach Chicago to meet the diverse needs of our students. Since launching the initiative in 2016, the District has made strategic investments to recruit and retain talented teachers and school leaders. Due to these efforts, CPS’ staffing levels have improved substantially – up nearly 1,500 teachers since the beginning of the 2017-18 school year – with an emphasis on supporting hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff positions, like special education.  In addition to supporting current educators, the District has made significant investments in developing pathways for CPS students to become the future educators and leaders of tomorrow, including the CPS Residency Program and Teach Chicago Tomorrow. This year, the District also celebrated its largest and most diverse cohort of future Teach Chicago Tomorrow educators to date. Learn more about the District’s teacher recruitment and retention efforts at www.teach.cps.edu.