I can't tell you how proud I am to be focusing our efforts on what I believe is a unique opportunity to re-imagine what education looks like, and explore the best possible learning environment for our students. There is no doubt in my mind that the middle school campus plan not only ensures our district's financial future, but will catapult us to being one of the most forward-thinking districts in the country.
I'm aware that there is much misinformation being shared about this model. Some have described it as a big-box school, which is unfair and inaccurate. As our staff shared with board members last night, the proposed model is based on well-established middle school research, and would be designed in a way that would create close-knit teams of teachers and students, who would form strong learning communities characterized by a sense of connectedness. It will have the feeling of a small school, but in a setting that offers the resources and opportunities of a large one.
The campus would have two completely separate wings, one serving 900 students in grades 5 and 6, and the other serving 900 students in grades 7-8. This opens up exciting academic opportunities to our fifth graders, like foreign language, STEM classes, communications/media arts and a wider array of music offerings. It also allows us to provide a more sheltered and nurturing environment for fifth and sixth-graders, who have more in common with each other and are at a different developmental stage than 7th and 8th graders.
It offers our teachers the best opportunities to collaborate with each other, and work together to provide deeper and more robust instruction across disciplines.
While the 5-6, 7-8 configuration is new for Highland Park and Highwood, many other high-achieving districts in the Chicago area have this model. Our neighbors to the south, Wilmette, have a very similar structure. Their 5-6 and 7-8 buildings, which are across a field from each other, serve a total of about 1700 students. The model we are considering has a 5-6/7-8 building that would serve 1800 students.
Under this plan, every elementary school in the model will be upgraded with air-conditioning, security vestibules, ADA compliance, fire sprinklers, and adaptive furniture systems. Full-day kindergarten would be offered at each elementary school.
The operating savings achieved under this plan is estimated to be $4 million to $4.8 million annually, sufficient to make us financially sustainable for decades to come.
Our next steps include refining design documents, analyzing boundaries and transportation times, developing a construction schedule, continuing talks with the Park District on an agreement that would swap school district property in exchange for the West Ridge park site, and continuing work with the city on traffic design around the site. We are also planning for a series of public meetings in November, to give community members a chance to learn more, ask questions and provide feedback. More details will be shared at a later date.
I realize many of you have questions, and over the next several weeks we will do our best to answer them.
You may send us questions by clicking on our Let's Talk button on our home page, www.nssd112.org. We are developing an FAQ for our website, and we will let you know when it is posted and updated.
