Lincolnshire-Prairie View Dist. 103 may move 5th graders to Half Day School

The fifth graders at Daniel Wright Junior High School in Lincolnshire would be moving to Half Day School if a plan to address increasing enrollment in Lincolnshire-Prairie View District 103 is approved by the school board in mid-September.

The plan was outlined at a community meeting Wednesday night at Daniel Wright Junior High.

Additional classroom space and support space would be added at both Laura Sprague and Half Day schools as part of the plan. At Half Day, there would also be a “studio” space, where students would have an area to collaborate for projects.

The plan would cost between $12.8 million and $15.2 million to execute. A referendum would not be necessary, but school officials estimated that on a $450,000 home taxes may increase by about $10 per year.

“It's not a huge impact,” said Dan Stanley, assistant superintendent for business at Dist. 103.

The plan came out of the district's Vision 2020 strategic planning meetings and is meant to address increasing enrollment, and the need for additional space for programs added due to state and federal mandates. One of the Vision 2020 goals was to add more space for students and optimize the use of current space.

Superintendent Scott Warren explained that it makes sense academically for the fifth graders to be moved to Half Day, where the curriculum is more in line with those students. Half Day currently serves third and fourth graders.

Scott Gaunky, director of facilities, said that with the transfer, the Daniel Wright space can be used more efficiently, creating pods, such as having math classes in one area of the building.

“Right now the school is over capacity; they'll be able to shift into some of the open spaces,” he said

Parent Julie Freeman said she was worried about traffic increasing at Half Day School. “What plans do you have to increase pedestrian safety in that area?” she asked. “It's crowded over there with just two grades.”

Warren said that would be something school officials would consider if they moved forward with the project.

Currently, enrollment at Daniel Wright is 834, Half Day is 364 and Laura Sprague, which serves students from early childhood through second grade, is 512. With the proposed plan, enrollment at Daniel Wright would be 650 and Half Day would be at 550.

The architects explained that sometime in the future they would like to open up the wall between the cafeteria and the library at Daniel Wright and create a common area for students to work together or work on their computers while they are eating.

If the plan is approved by the board, the hope is for fifth grade classes to move to Half Day by next fall, Warren said.