Mrs. Urista was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and raised in Chicago.  She is married, has three grown daughters and seven grandchildren.  She attended CPS Schools. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with studies in Bilingual/Bicultural Studies from Northeastern Illinois University. She has a type 03 K-9 self-contained with endorsements in Spanish, Language Arts, and Social Science.  During the time that she was attending Northeastern, she worked as an Instructional Aide at John T. McCutcheon Elementary School on the North side of Chicago.

She has been with CPS since February of 1983. This will be her 24th year teaching Kindergarten. Seventeen of those years were at Jose De Diego Academy. This is her sixth year at Pulaski International School of Chicago. She feels very lucky to be part of the Pulaski Family. She is currently teaching International Baccalaureate kindergarten.  As a classroom teacher she implements a balanced literacy framework that includes shared reading, read aloud, independent reading and guided reading. She implements differentiated instruction and uses data to inform her teaching and in order to meet the diverse needs in her class.

She chose to teach because she truly believes that she can make a difference in a child’s life and be a great role model for them. She believes that every child can learn if motivated and taught in their mode of learning. Her motto is “learning must be fun.”