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Post by EagleDad on Feb 17, 2010 20:11:29 GMT -6
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=359770aperville Community District 203 officials knew they had to do something to alleviate swelling class sizes at Mill Elementary school, but hoped by waiting, they could avoid the inevitable. They couldn't. Board members Tuesday began discussing a plan to lower class sizes at Mill by transferring between 53 and 96 kindergarten through third-grade students to Elmwood Elementary School. In 2008, Mill underwent a $7 million renovation that included a 15,000-square-foot addition with a gym, multipurpose room and cafeteria. The school's learning resource center has also been reconfigured and there are eight new rooms for learning, including a new computer room, music room and classrooms for the English Language Learner program. Administrator offices have also been expanded and the outdoor traffic flow was improved. "When the referendum was passed to remodel Mill it was not with the idea that we would be expanding the capacity of Mill but that it would be increasing the quality of the educational experience for the children that are there," said Superintendent Mark Mitrovich. "The people here at the time did the best that they could in trying to forecast what the enrollments in that school would look like. The best forecasts have not been able to adequately able to measure the number of students there." This year's first class, for example, graduated kindergarten with 114 students and began first grade this year with 146. "The reality is that we are going to have to take a look at realigning the attendance boundaries for Mill Elementary School," he said. "We are painfully aware of the stress that that can create and we have worked on this issue for some time looking at every potential scenario that we could to address that but we kept coming back to one undeniable conclusion." Kitty Ryan, assistant superintendent for school services and programs, suggested only some incoming kindergarten through third-grade students would be moved and those with younger siblings would be allowed to stay. She said it is to early to determine how the district would go about changing the Mill attendance boundaries. "Everything is in flux right now," she said. "This is the first time the board is getting this info." Mitrovich said he met Tuesday morning with the parent leadership of Mill and shared the information with them as well. "I think they understood it," he said. "They understood the dilemma we're faced with and that we've tried to do it in the least intrusive way possible." A letter is expected to be sent to Mill parents today, explaining aspects of the plan, and the board will discuss the plan in detail on March 1. Mitrovich said he hopes the board would give the plan final approval at the second March board meeting.
The B word being whispered over in 203 on a much smaller scale. Hopefully they won't eat their own young like we did.
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Post by doctorwho on Feb 17, 2010 21:24:30 GMT -6
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=359770aperville Community District 203 officials knew they had to do something to alleviate swelling class sizes at Mill Elementary school, but hoped by waiting, they could avoid the inevitable. They couldn't. Board members Tuesday began discussing a plan to lower class sizes at Mill by transferring between 53 and 96 kindergarten through third-grade students to Elmwood Elementary School. In 2008, Mill underwent a $7 million renovation that included a 15,000-square-foot addition with a gym, multipurpose room and cafeteria. The school's learning resource center has also been reconfigured and there are eight new rooms for learning, including a new computer room, music room and classrooms for the English Language Learner program. Administrator offices have also been expanded and the outdoor traffic flow was improved. "When the referendum was passed to remodel Mill it was not with the idea that we would be expanding the capacity of Mill but that it would be increasing the quality of the educational experience for the children that are there," said Superintendent Mark Mitrovich. "The people here at the time did the best that they could in trying to forecast what the enrollments in that school would look like. The best forecasts have not been able to adequately able to measure the number of students there." This year's first class, for example, graduated kindergarten with 114 students and began first grade this year with 146. "The reality is that we are going to have to take a look at realigning the attendance boundaries for Mill Elementary School," he said. "We are painfully aware of the stress that that can create and we have worked on this issue for some time looking at every potential scenario that we could to address that but we kept coming back to one undeniable conclusion." Kitty Ryan, assistant superintendent for school services and programs, suggested only some incoming kindergarten through third-grade students would be moved and those with younger siblings would be allowed to stay. She said it is to early to determine how the district would go about changing the Mill attendance boundaries. "Everything is in flux right now," she said. "This is the first time the board is getting this info." Mitrovich said he met Tuesday morning with the parent leadership of Mill and shared the information with them as well. "I think they understood it," he said. "They understood the dilemma we're faced with and that we've tried to do it in the least intrusive way possible." A letter is expected to be sent to Mill parents today, explaining aspects of the plan, and the board will discuss the plan in detail on March 1. Mitrovich said he hopes the board would give the plan final approval at the second March board meeting.
The B word being whispered over in 203 on a much smaller scale. Hopefully they won't eat their own young like we did. if this was 204 they'd have done one of two things: 1/ build another 1500 or so seats to accomodate the extra hundred they really have ( and then lie to the people and tell them it really is 1500 ) or 2/ send those kids to the furthest school possible from their house- maybe near warrenville or Bolingbrook- then tell the parents to sit down and shut the hell up |
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Post by casey on Feb 18, 2010 7:38:37 GMT -6
D203 to adjust elementary school boundariesFebruary 18, 2010
By KATHY CICHON kcichon@stmedianetwork.com
In order to alleviate overcrowded classrooms at Mill Street Elementary School, some students will be moving to Elmwood Elementary School.
District 203 Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said the district needs to look at re-aligning the attendance boundaries for the school, 1300 N. Mill St. That means some students will attend class at Elmwood, 1024 Magnolia Lane, when they return to school next year.
• D203 could lose $8.7 million from state
"We're painfully aware of the stress that that can create, and we have worked on this issue for some time, been looking at every potential scenario that we could in order to address it," Mitrovich said at Tuesday's board meeting. "But we kept coming back to one undeniable conclusion. We only could achieve what we needed to achieve, which is to reduce the class sizes at Mill because they are too large … and the only way to do that is to relocate some of the families that are currently at Mill."
Earlier in the evening parent Robert Bava, who lives in the Cress Creek neighborhood, urged the board to look at rezoning boundaries or creating additional classrooms.
"The class sizes at Mill Street continue to increase," Bava said. "When I went to school there it was 22. Some as low as 20."
Currently his first-grade daughter is in a class of 29 students, he said.
"My son will be going there in two years. I worry about 30-plus as a possible number for those class sizes," Bava said.
He noted other schools in the district have lower class size.
'Some of the other schools have 18, 19 kids and we're approaching 30," he said
According to Kitty Ryan, assistant superintendent for school services and programs, Mill Street ended last school year with an enrollment of 799 students. As of Jan. 31, there are 821 students enrolled.
"While that does not appear to be a dramatic difference, the overcrowding concern focuses on the primary grades where the current first grade enrollment has grown for 114 students exiting kindergarten to 145 current first graders," Ryan said. "There are 130 students currently enrolled as kindergartners. If that cohort group grows at the same rate as last year's kindergarten group, we would be faced with significant overcrowding in both our first and second grade classrooms."
The relocation would not take effect until next school year, and is limited to a couple of neighborhoods, school officials said. The move would involve between 53 and 85 students, depending on the choices the families of fourth- and fifth-graders make.
"We are working very, very hard to make sure we got some contingencies in place to allow those Mill Street families who would be reassigned to Elmwood to stay at Mill if they have fourth and fifth grade students and for their siblings to remain there are well," Ryan said. "So we're hoping we're creating the very best situation for all those involved."
Ryan called the move "a very viable and prudent solution." A letter will be sent to families, likely sometime this week, indicating which neighborhoods will be affected.
If the move is not made, the enrollment numbers are reaching the point where "we would have to re-purpose some of the rooms we had so carefully planned for other uses," Mitrovich said.
In the fall just under $7 million in renovations were competed at the 42-year-old school.
Those include a new 15,000-square-foot gymnasium/multipurpose/lunch area; a new kindergarten classroom; renovation of the building's core, centered on the Learning Resource Center and allowing for a dedicated computer lab and music space; reconfiguration of the original multipurpose room to provide instructional learning areas for educational support programs; and expansion of conference room, school office and school nurse spaces.
"When the referendum was passed to remodel Mill, it was not with the idea that we would be expanding the capacity of Mill, but that we would be increasing the quality of the educational experience for the children that are there," Mitrovich said. "The people who were here did they best they could in trying to forecast what the enrollment in the school would look like. The best forecast has not been able to adequately measure the enrollment of students there."
When the Ann Reid Early Childhood Center opens in the fall, the early childhood students currently housed at Elmwood will move to the new facility, Ryan said. That will free up space for the students arriving from Mill.
"The one sort of silver lining in this dark cloud is we do have extra room at Elmwood due to the fact the early childhood center — the Reid Early Childhood Center — is going to be open next year," Ryan said.
The board will discuss the plan to move Mill students at its March 1 work session, and will likely vote on the changes at its regular meeting March 15.
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Post by casey on Feb 18, 2010 7:43:02 GMT -6
The relocation would not take effect until next school year, and is limited to a couple of neighborhoods, school officials said. The move would involve between 53 and 85 students, depending on the choices the families of fourth- and fifth-graders make."We are working very, very hard to make sure we got some contingencies in place to allow those Mill Street families who would be reassigned to Elmwood to stay at Mill if they have fourth and fifth grade students and for their siblings to remain there are well," Ryan said. "So we're hoping we're creating the very best situation for all those involved." This is the way a SD goes about boundary changes - creating the best situation for those involved. Allowing siblings to stay and choices to be made. Wow! What a novel idea, eh? Too bad our SB/SD didn't have enough compassion to do such a thing. |
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Post by brant on Feb 18, 2010 8:39:12 GMT -6
The relocation would not take effect until next school year, and is limited to a couple of neighborhoods, school officials said. The move would involve between 53 and 85 students, depending on the choices the families of fourth- and fifth-graders make."We are working very, very hard to make sure we got some contingencies in place to allow those Mill Street families who would be reassigned to Elmwood to stay at Mill if they have fourth and fifth grade students and for their siblings to remain there are well," Ryan said. "So we're hoping we're creating the very best situation for all those involved." This is the way a SD goes about boundary changes - creating the best situation for those involved. Allowing siblings to stay and choices to be made. Wow! What a novel idea, eh? Too bad our SB/SD didn't have enough compassion to do such a thing. Casey I am sorry for what you and your family has gone through. Despite my former views I never understood why #204 insisted on starting their new schools with sophomores. Where I came from new schools always began with freshman classes. I join with others in saying I am glad you are at WV. Your efforts and advocation concerning the glaring differences between the schools will have an effect. And your praise of WV is being noticed. |
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Post by casey on Feb 18, 2010 9:39:09 GMT -6
Casey I am sorry for what you and your family has gone through. Despite my former views I never understood why #204 insisted on starting their new schools with sophomores. Where I came from new schools always began with freshman classes. I join with others in saying I am glad you are at WV. Your efforts and advocation concerning the glaring differences between the schools will have an effect. And your praise of WV is being noticed. Awww, shucks! I really do appreciate your kind words. I will never forgive the SB/SD for their ridiculous decision to split families. I think that represented the single most "screw you!" act that the SB ever designed (a close runner-up was the bridge memo). To make a ruling that they could not fit the small number of siblings at their existing schools was just blatant disregard for a family's best interest. The thing that really gets me going though is then to have KB grant exception requests to everyone that showed up with a doctor's note. My friends know that was not something I was willing to do. I played by the rules and my family was split as a result. I wish I could tell you everything has been easy here but that is not the case. It HAS been challenging for my family. I hope the SB as well as those on the green board are sitting there giddy with joy that they screwed me and my family - you think you "won". However, we're getting the last laugh because my daughter loves it as Waubonsie and would never wish to be back at Neuqua. She has made some great new friends that she just loves. She had a coach that was top-notch and a team that became very close and her athletic performance grew as a result. Teachers are incredible as well as is much of the staff. My counselor actually knows who my child is (and that's a huge welcome change from Neuqua). Her classes are challenging and she's continuing to do well plus her class rank went WAY up (even though her grades basically remained the same from freshman to sophomore year). The staff in the 2012 House are professional, considerate, and helpful. Call over to the main office at Waubonsie and you'll find people willing to help. There seems to be a true sense of pride at Waubonsie from the teachers and staff. Honestly the thing that drove me most crazy at Neuqua was the sense of entitlement and competition by SOME of the students, administration, and staff. That doesn't really exist at Waubonsie and my child has thrived as a result. I feel sorry for those that won't get the opportunity to experience Waubonsie. It really is an incredible school and I will be so disappointed to see it close (I do think that that is inevitable). Waubonsie is an old building (no doubt about that) but it's what inside that counts. I tell everyone I know that it has been a great experience for my daughter. It hasn't worked out so well for many others and for that I am sad but I will say this "it's what you make of it". My daughter has a very positive, go-get-em attitude and gets along well with everyone. She came in excited about starting over and it has been a successful transition. We are lucky it has worked out. |
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Post by casey on Feb 18, 2010 10:21:25 GMT -6
Curious how long it will be until 204 starts reporting on elementary boundary changes. They'll be coming first and then MS changes and then the grand finale - a high school closing.
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Post by casey on Mar 16, 2010 6:39:28 GMT -6
Superintendent: Dist. 203 boundary talks 'painless'
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald StaffContact writerPublished: 3/16/2010 12:04 AMSend To:
School districts usually don't want to become embroiled in any kind of boundary discussion.
But if they do, they rarely end as quickly and quietly as Naperville Unit District 203's proposal to shift several elementary students around.
The board, with no discussion Monday, unanimously approved a plan that will move students from Mill Street to Elmwood Elementary to ease crowding at the north-side school. The district first announced a move was immenent on Feb. 17.
Some Elmwood students also would move to nearby Kingsley and Maplebrook elementary schools. In some cases, the moves also would affect what junior high and high school students attend.
"I've never been part of a boundary change that was as painless as this one," Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said after Monday's board meeting. "I think it's because we've worked to transition the change. I think it also made a lot of sense to those people who were involved. In the long run, it's really in the best interest of the students."
Mill Street is the largest of the district's elementary schools with 821 students, and is projected to grow to 836 next year. The school recently underwent a $7 million renovation, but while that included new learning spaces for small groups, it did not include classrooms to handle the increasing number of students.
Under the proposal, 42 to 83 students from portions of the Wil-O-Way neighborhood, as well as Jefferson Estates, would move to Elmwood, which is 119 students below capacity. These new Elmwood students would then go to Lincoln Junior High and Naperville Central High School. Mitrovich said notices would be mailed soon to affected families.
"They will then elect to either stay at Mill or Elmwood if they're eligible," he said.
The move applies to kindergarten though third-grade students and all newly enrolled students. Students in fourth and fifth grades and their siblings will be allowed to finish at Mill if they choose to.
"We do that so the families can stay intact," he said.
In addition, roughly 14 to 22 Elmwood students will move to Maplebrook Elementary, and two to five Elmwood students will move to Kingsley. These students will then go to Lincoln and Central as well.
Kitty Ryan, assistant superintendent for school services and programs, has previously said the neighborhoods being moved were chosen because they are contiguous to their new schools and, in some cases, will be even closer. The district also is trying to keep a balance between the number of student at Naperville North and Central high schools.
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Please, oh please, come teach our SD to have some common sense. As the 203 Super pointed out, boundary issues do not have to be so contentious. They can use common sense and keep families intact, allow exceptions, and put together a transition plan. Our district could learn a lot from 203's direction. I don't think that there was anything our SD/SB did right last time around.
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