Cassandra Hannah

Assistant Principal of Culture

ITW David Speer Academy

About – Cassandra Hannah

A proud Chicagoan and a product of Chicago Public Schools, Cassandra Hannah attended Wendell Smith Elementary and Hyde Park Career Academy, on the South Side of Chicago. As the last daughter born on the Southside to a factory worker and a truck driver, education was of utmost importance. To further her education, she attended the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and would later attend Concordia University River Forest. As a mother of one daughter that attends Xavier University, an historically Black College, in Louisiana, she  continues to stress the importance of advancing education. 

Cassandra is entering her fourteenth year in education, prior to joining Speer in 2015 as a Dean of Students, she was a School Counselor and Assistant Principal at Henry Ford Academy: Power House High on the West Side of Chicago. As the Assistant Principal of Culture, Cassandra is striving to create an  atmosphere of excellence where everybody is able to contribute not only to the success of the school, but the community as well. An excellence that can be felt by all that enter the doors. An excellence that sounds like doors being opened for generation after generation because there are people here who don’t believe that opportunities have to be out of reach for certain communities; they understand that there is hard work to be done, but they also choose to do the heart work involved as well. An excellence that equips people both young and old, educator and non, to become lifelong learners. 

Cassandra is excited to be a part of the Principal Fellows as it will allow her to continue the amazing work she has begun in education, Noble specifically. This program will increase her capacity as a change agent for the Network and give her new perspective on what a leader looks, feels, and sounds like. 

Cassandra finds joy in spending time with family and friends and creating new memories. It is through these connections that she is able to continue to be transformational in her work as she lives by the motto “if I can help somebody as I travel along this way, then my living shall not be in vain”.