Juan R. Lira has been the principal at McKinley since August 2012. Prior to that, he was an administrator in Chicago Public Schools District 299 for five years. There he served as an Assistant Principal and Principal Intern. Mr. Lira began his career in education in Mexico in the city of Merida teaching English. In addition to teaching in Mexico, Mr. Lira has taught in Cape Verde, Africa as well as in the Chicago Public School system where he taught in transitional bilingual and dual language classrooms. 

Mr. Lira has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master’s degree in Instructional Leadership from University of Illinois-Chicago. He has also begun work on a Doctoral degree at the University of Illinois-Chicago in Urban Educational Leadership. Mr. Lira believes that education is vital to a successful and good life. He is committed to bringing high quality educational opportunities to the McKinley community that he serves. 

Juan R. Lira can be reached at JuanLira@u-46.org.