Niles Township High Schools District 219 Superintendent Tom Moore, who also serves as a chair on the Board of Trustees at College Board, has been recognized for his leadership and commitment to expanding academic opportunity for the Latino community, winning the organization’s prestigious 2026 Modelo de la Comunidad Award.
The educational honor, which is presented annually at College Board’s Prepárate conference, is awarded to an individual or organization who demonstrates outstanding advocacy efforts, leadership and service.
“We open up the most rigorous of course work for all [District 219] students, and instead of trying to keep people out of challenging coursework, we invite people in,” Moore told the Pioneer Press on behalf of the district.
“People need to convince kids that, ‘we believe in you,’ and I’ve found in my career that when you have a relationship, and when you authentically communicate with students and kids, be that as a coach, be it as a teacher, your belief and your faith in them, that they tend to rise to the challenge,” Moore said.
Moore was nominated for the award by members of Prepárate’s National Advisory Committee, which seeks to select recipients based on their efforts to remove barriers and create equal opportunity for students to excel in their coursework and secondary education.
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The district serves four high schools in Niles Township, which includes the Villages of Skokie, Lincolnwood and Golf and portions of Morton Grove, Niles and Glenview.
According to data from the district’s website, over 70 different languages are spoken in the homes of the more than 4,600 students attending Niles West, North and Central High School, along with the Bridges Transition Center, which provides special education services to adult learners.
And about 60% of families residing in Niles Township are multilingual, with the most common languages spoken in their homes besides English being Urdu, Spanish, Assyrian and Arabic.
The district is also the first public school in the nation to offer an Assyrian language curriculum, a long-term endeavor that has garnered further public recognition.
According to the district, about 17% of the student population at Niles Township identifies as Latino.
“What makes [this district] special is that there are few places that are more diverse,” Moore said. “Literally, with people from all over the world here, some that’s families came 100 years ago, some that came during the Great Migration north, some that just came last week.”
“And to me, there’s this promise that I still believe in, not just for our district, but for our country at large, and that is that a better life is possible, and I think the most tangible way to go through this, what parents know, is [through] education,” he said.
In concurrence with expanding educational opportunity for all students, the district eliminated fees for Advanced Placement (AP) enrollment, a change that Moore said has increased Latino student participation in these courses across all four high schools.
“Four years ago, 35% of our kids took an advanced placement course… so a little over a third of our kids successfully completed an AP course by the time they graduated. This year, more than 70% of our senior class is enrolled in Advanced Placement, and the average scores have gone up during that expansion,” Moore said.
Receiving recognition for these changes is rewarding, he added, but ultimately goes back to the students who have continued to push themselves when met with new opportunities and challenges.
“This isn’t my award, this is for all the people that do all the work. I just believe in it,” Moore said.
“I believe in the possibilities, I believe in great teachers. I believe in kids…we always have to remember things are, I use the phrase ‘nosotros, la gente,’ We the People. We’re the ones that can make a difference.”
Moore took on the position of district leader back in 2022, having spent more than 12 years as superintendent of West Hartford Public Schools in West Hartford, Connecticut.
“Tom Moore exemplifies what this award represents,” said Prepárate Co-Chair Dr. Luis Narváez Gete, in the College Board news announcement of Moore’s win.
“His leadership goes beyond words. He takes meaningful action to open doors for students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, and builds systems where every student has the opportunity to succeed.”