A look inside: Stanton School

Stanton School

Address: 101 S. Hawthorne Lane, Fox Lake

Phone: (847) 973-4200

District's name and Web site: Fox Lake Elementary District 114, www.flgs.lake.k12.il.us

Number of students/grade levels offered: 275 students in sixth through eighth grade

Number of staff: 35

School mascot: A fox

When was school built: The old part of the school was built in 1955. The newer part was built in 1973.

An interesting tidbit: Stanton was named in honor of Ralph Stanton, a former employee who held every position during his 38-year career. He was a custodian, a bus driver, a teacher, an athletics coach, an assistant principal, a principal and the superintendent.

Principal: Bill Lomas

• Has been at Stanton since 1978. Started off as a teacher, named assistant principal in 1986, then principal in 1988. He was named associate superintendent in 2000.

• What is your favorite memory from Stanton School? "Our community service projects over the past decade. About 10 years ago, we changed our philosophy and started to provide services within our community and beyond. Some of the service projects include participating in the Mayor's Challenge 5K run walk for the Susan B. Komen Foundation, participating in St. Jude's Mathathon program, and we spent one year as a sister school with a Louisiana school that was damaged in Hurricane Katrina."

• What do you think is an unique aspect of your school? "Our family atmosphere. We work extremely hard to maintain very small class sizes and keep that family atmosphere."

• What are you most proud of? "My students and my staff. Our students have always done an outstanding job for social programs like canned food drives. Also, these kids have always stepped up on achievement goals. We recognize and celebrate their successes for a time, but then we always set a higher goal for them to pass. These kids have always surprised me with their ability to set lofty goals and work hard to achieve them. Also, my staff is the best. I would be proud to have my children attend any class with any teacher at Stanton. I have an excellent team and wouldn't replace any one of them."

• If all school enrollments were determined by choice, what would you say to potential parents to convince them to choose Stanton for their children? "We provide students with an excellent balance with their academic and social development. We are always cognizant of the social development of children as well. We strive to make them proud of the community they live in. All schools have academic goals, but we balance that with social goals students need to prepare for high school."

• How has technology changed the way students learn over the past five years? Has that been a good change? "Computers have been a very positive change. Five years ago our focus for technology was on classroom instruction. This year, we are doing an excellent job of getting critical data on students immediately. We are using technology to get feedback on children instantly. We use test data to individualize and specialize for each student. Teachers are then teaching to each student's strength and weaknesses."

• If you can get one thing accomplished between now and the end of May in your school, what would it be? "Completion of the transition of leadership positions in the middle school. We have a number of teachers with significant leadership positions retiring and we have been working to prepare for those retirements. Our goal is to be totally prepared for the new tier of leadership to take over next year."