Michelle Navarre is an award-winning educator and visionary school leader with three decades of experience advancing deeper learning in historically under-resourced communities. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Polaris Charter Academy, a single-site K–8 charter public school in Chicago’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood, which she has led since opening its doors in 2007. Under Michelle’s leadership, Polaris has become a nationally and internationally recognized model for experiential, character-centered learning grounded in a student-empowered culture and sustained through project-based learning, restorative practices, and research-based reflection that cultivates student agency and belonging. Polaris also serves as a leading learning lab for educators, welcoming hundreds of visitors each year to study its practices and student-centered outcomes.

Michelle’s leadership has sparked a legacy of student-driven civic work at Polaris, with young people spearheading projects showcased in Harvard’s Models of Excellence such as Peacekeepers of Chicago and city-wide water quality reports—using data, sitework, and advocacy to address issues at the heart of social and environmental justice. Her impact has been featured by publications including PBS NewsHour, Education Week, and The Atlantic, and highlighted in books including We Are Crew, Helping Children Succeed, and 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People. A former America Achieves Education Champion Fellow, Michelle is the 2024 Illinois Network of Charter Schools Leader of the Year and a recipient of the EL Education Silverberg Leadership Award and the STC Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Education Award.

When she’s not with the Polaris community, Michelle prioritizes time with her two Polaris-graduate daughters and regularly consults with schools across the globe, including Poland, Taiwan, China, England, and Australia.