Arlington Hts. District 25 to launch new website

The new website for Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 will launch Friday, May 4, but the board of education got an advance peek Thursday night.

The main advantages are making it easier both for site visitors to find information and for district employees to update it, said Ruth Sternemann, who has been the district’s communications coordinator since October.

The district will no longer host the site. Instead, a Chicago company called Edline that specializes in websites and other online services for schools will.

The first-year costs are about $8,000 in addition to the $2,000 that the district has been paying for services for the two middle schools, said Christopher Fahnoe, director of technology and assessment. That price includes a federal grant for 42 percent of the project cost. However, some services such as allowing parents to check on their students’ assignments and grades will be additional fee, he said.

The district’s website is at ahsd25.k12.il.us/

In other business, the board awarded Soumar Masonry Restoration of Elmhurst a contract for $225,160 for exterior repairs to three buildings.

The company will do mostly tuckpointing at Ivy Hill and Patton elementary schools and Thomas Middle School.

The district’s architect, Mike Henderson of STR Partners in Chicago, surveyed the school buildings’ exteriors in 2010. Last year about one-third of the needed repairs were made, and this work represents a second third, said Mike Brown, director of facilities management. The remainder will be done next year if finances allow.