A look inside … Rondout School

Address: 28593 N. Bradley Road, Lake Forest

Phone: (847) 362-2021

District's name and Web site: Rondout School District 72, www.rondout.org

Number of students/grade levels offered: 157 students in kindergarten through eighth grade

Number of staff: 36

School mascot: Falcon

When was school built: 1917

Trivia: Rondout received a SchoolSearch 2007 Bright Red Apple Award of Excellence

Principal: Stuart Lassiter

• This is his first year as principal.

• What is your favorite memory from Rondout School? "One of the things that I love that repeats itself is when we gather everybody together in the morning. Some mornings I do the greeting. I say 'Good morning, Rondout,' and they say 'Good morning, Mr. Lassiter,' and there's this chorus of young voices mixed with adolescent voices, and I think it's a wonderful way to start the day. It always brings a smile to my face."

• What's a unique aspect of your school? "The way we work with kids. We have K-2 cluster, a 3-5 cluster and a 6th- through 8th-grade cluster. And for reading, language arts and math, kids are grouped based on past performance. And then for social students and science, they're taught by grade level."

• What are you most proud of? "The community feeling that we have. We're so small, everybody knows everybody."

• If all school enrollments were determined by choice, what would you say to potential parents to convince them to choose Rondout? "Come to Rondout because our teachers really know our kids."

• How has technology changed the way students learn over the past five years? "We have a 1-to-1 initiative, so all the students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades have laptop computers that are provided by the district. They get to take them home with them. Our kids have monitored access to the Internet, where they can get the latest information."