Posted October 26, 2006

The Glen Ellyn School District 41 Boundary Advisory Committee spent its Oct. 19 meeting reviewing space usage at each school. Elementary school principals provided detailed information on what each space is used for—direct instruction, small group, one-on-one, office and staff, maintenance and general storage—and noting which spaces have multiple uses throughout the day. There was no presentation from Hadley Junior High, since that school serves the whole district and would not be affected by any boundary adjustments.

The committee’s job is to examine school attendance area boundaries for possible adjustment for the 2007-2008 school year. “Before the committee can consider making changes, it has to understand the space situation at each school,” explained Superintendent Dr. Ann Riebock. “With 26 portable classrooms deployed across the district, it’s clear that all our buildings are over capacity. The question is, do our buildings provide an equitable learning environment across the district, and if not, would boundary adjustments make a significant improvement. It’s possible that the committee may decide that boundary adjustments aren’t the answer. One thing the committee heard from the principals was that each building is facing challenges. The portables have helped, but there is still pressure on the infrastructure, the hallways, the libraries, the playgrounds and parking.”

Some common themes emerged among the four elementary schools: Today’s schools provide classroom space, plus areas where specialists, social workers, psychologists, speech and occupational therapists and others work with individuals and small groups. As diversity increases throughout the district, space for required English Language Learning (ELL) programs is becoming scarce. There is no unused instructional space, and in many cases, space that was intended for staff work has been converted to instructional space. On high wind days (defined by the school code as sustained winds of 35 mph) students in the portables must be brought inside, and each building has a plan for accommodating them; for example, students might have class in the library, gym or computer labs, with programming normally taking place in those spaces eliminated for that time (at Churchill, the art and music rooms are pressed into service on high wind days, and those teachers put their materials on carts and travel to the classrooms). Although all the schools are contending with space issues, the principals gave a picture of unified buildings working together to create strong learning environments. Lincoln Principal Shannon Cross articulated their sentiments by saying, “I don’t want to lose any of my kids…and neither do the teachers and neither do the parents.”

Highlights from the building presentations

Abraham Lincoln (enrollment 653, six portable classrooms)
Principal Shannon Cross noted that the school is over capacity with essentially all spaces utilized throughout the school day. A multi-purpose area formerly used for assemblies, indoor recess and other activities has been subdivided into five cubicle classrooms and a small storage area. Lincoln’s English Language Learning (ELL) population has doubled in the last two years, and program space for the three classes serving 79 ELL students is tight, with two separate programs utilizing the same learning space. Cross stated that the culture and diversity of Lincoln students help make the school a wonderful place to learn, grow and achieve. Kindergartners have PE in the classroom, since there is no more room in the gym. The teacher lunchroom is now a small classroom, and many teachers have given over their classrooms to one of the 62 lunchtime activities (such as language at lunch and great books) offered to children by the PTA over the course of the week. Lincoln has two of the D41 Early Childhood Special Education classrooms. Due to the campus location on a floodplain and a peat bog, there is no suitable space for another portable.

Benjamin Franklin (enrollment 627, four portable classrooms)
Principal Susan Miller noted that there are many shared spaces at Ben Franklin, and that everything is tight. The school does have a teacher work room and there is one classroom that is occupied by the Pre-Kindergarten at Risk program that is occasionally available for other uses such as tutoring. Lunch is crowded at Franklin, and many teachers have given over their classrooms for the 35 lunch activities for students going on in the building over the course of the week. Two classrooms are used for the Pre-K program, a grant-funded program that was moved to Ben Franklin last year from rented space that did not meet state guidelines for preschool space. Miller noted that the Pre-K program serves children who will attend D41 schools. Franklin houses the Modified Instructional Program, a self-contained classroom serving special education students. Franklin provides ELL services to about 15 students.

Churchill (enrollment 590, eight portable classrooms)
Principal Scott Klespitz noted that one fifth of Churchill students have a home language other than English, speaking among them 29 languages; of these, 132 students receive ELL programming. Churchill provides bilingual instruction in Spanish, Vietnamese and Urdu and ELL services for many other students. “Diversity is our greatest asset—I hear that from parents all the time,” he said. Due to its location along Geneva Road, Churchill is a closed campus, with all students having lunch at school. Although Churchill sits on a large parcel, most of that land is designated for stormwater detention and there is no space for more units.

Forest Glen (enrollment 538, four portable classrooms)
Forest Glen has no unused space and has three classrooms devoted to special education—two Early Childhood Special Education and one Guided Instructional Program. With very little off-street parking, traffic is a constant issue at Forest Glen and students enter and exit the school buses curbside. The stage is used mainly for storage. The basement houses special education services, the school psychologist, speech therapist, and the teacher lunchroom, which is also used for orchestra, band and meetings. Forest Glen provides ELL services to about 26 students.

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