Kris Cheung

Leaving his professional trajectory in hotel and restaurant management, Kris started at Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City, where he helped open 40 schools within seven years, expanding access to free and quality education in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. His experience in growing and scaling Success Academies as Chief Operating Officer led him to join KIPP Texas Public Schools, as the head of the integration and merger of four distinct KIPP regions - Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio - under one KIPP Texas statewide organization. As Chief Operations Officer, Kris established a blueprint for strategic integration and coordination across the state while expanding access to free and public charter seats by opening seven new schools in Texas over three years to serve over 34,000 students across 59 schools.

As Chief Executive Officer at Chicago International Charter School (CICS), Kris is tasked with creating a new vision and strategy for CICS while harnessing the organization's diverse and innovative learning models that meet the needs of its communities. From New York City, to Texas, and now Chicago, he continues to work tirelessly to provide more free access to high quality, public educational options for all families.

Why do you work and are you a Board member for CICS?

While pursuing his Master's in Public Policy and Administration in New York City, Kris witnessed the educational inequities and disparities in resources and access between students from high- and low-socioeconomic backgrounds in school districts and communities. As a result, Kris committed to doing his part in providing and expanding access to free and quality educational choices for all families through a career in public charter schools.