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School District 63 to launch year with full-day kindergarten, three-year middle school, other changes

East Maine School District 63 students return to the classroom at the end of August amidst a sea of changes in the district, which is in the final stages of completing a major master plan.

The master plan includes new boundaries for elementary schools, a new preschool building, the addition of full-day kindergarten and the transition to a middle school model at Gemini, which will now house sixth- through eighth-graders.

Janet Spector Bishop, director of communications and community relations, said that in creating the master plan, the district took into account projections about students’ geographic location as well as long-term projections of enrollment, which has been declining slightly for the last few years.

But, she said, “the real thing that drove the redistricting was knowing that we were going to be taking the sixth-graders out of all the schools, eventually all the preschoolers out of the three elementary schools that serve them right now, and expanding to full-day kindergarten.”

The district is funding the changes through its existing stream of tax revenue and through bonds. Construction at Gemini is the biggest expense, at roughly $33 million, according to the district website. That includes 66,000 square feet of new space, a new fitness center, new instrumental music space and more than 50 new parking spots. The building is projected to be ready for students when they start school Aug. 26, although work will continue through the winter on the multi-purpose room and a new ground-floor administration area, according to Spector Bishop.

The shift to a middle school involves more than simply physical changes, she said. It’s also a fundamental change in the way the district educates students.

“What’s the difference between a junior high school and a middle school? Is that just words? It’s not,” she said.

A junior high school tends to mimic a high school in its department-style teaching, whereas a middle-school takes a more team-based approach that better suits the psychological, emotional and developmental needs of sixth- through eighth-graders, according to Spector Bishop. It also brings the district in line with the educational groupings of many other districts in the area.

Similarly, the addition of full-day kindergarten this year also falls in line with what many other districts are doing, Spector Bishop said.

That’s in part based on demand from parents. When she surveys families every couple of years, asking what they wish the district could do, Spector Bishop said many want full-day kindergarten. They don’t always include a reason, but when they do, she said it’s because it’s so hard to manage full-time jobs and a half-day kindergarten model, where students still need care for the other half of the day.

There are also good educational reasons for full-day kindergarten, she said, and teachers have undergone a yearlong training to prepare for the transition.

“What it comes down to is, we have more time,” Spector Bishop said. “You can’t do a lot in a couple of hours in the morning or afternoon. You can build out a really rich curriculum if you have a full day.”

Moving to full-day kindergarten will cost the district about $600,000 per year, according to the district website.

Parent demand was also behind the move to build a new preschool, Spector Bishop said. While the district has always offered preschool to students with special needs and those who are assessed to be at-risk academically, it added a fee-based option about five years ago. That has proven to be a popular option, she said, and enrollment is projected to grow.

Up until now, the preschool program has operated out of Apollo, Melzer, and Washington schools. The district will break ground on a new preschool at 10100 Dee Road in Des Plaines on Aug. 15. Construction, which is estimated to cost $14.5 million, is tentatively slated to be complete in time for the new preschool to open to students next fall. Spector Bishop said the district’s preschool program is projected to start this year with roughly 250 students, but typically more will enroll as the year goes on.

As part of the changes, the district has turned Stevenson School—which is no longer needed as an elementary school—into a Family Resource Center, according to Spector Bishop. The district will shift some of its existing programming there, including English Language Learner classes for parents, workshops for parents of students with special needs and professional development for staff. It will also offer the district a chance to expand its parent programming, she said, with financial literacy, parenting and citizenship classes in the works. Reconfiguring the former elementary school will cost $120,000, according to the district website.

Closing Stevenson, of course, means its student population will have to go elsewhere. Spector Bishop said 500 students will be impacted by redistricting this year. That number does not include incoming kindergarteners or last year’s fifth graders, who are starting middle school this year. All told, the district has roughly 3,400 students, Spector Bishop said.