Adler Park staff works weekend to prep for Libertyville school's opener

Opening day at Adler Park School in Libertyville this morning will have the traditional amount of excitement and activity that comes with any fresh start.

But it was nothing like this weekend.

Custodians were on the job at 4 a.m., contractors worked overtime and staffers continued to put in extra effort to wrap up a flurry of details associated with about $1 million in building improvements at the school along Milwaukee Avenue just south of Route 137.

"We basically took the front of the school off. We needed to create a security entrance where we could screen visitors," said Supt. Mark Friedman.

That's a major change, but not the only work that was being wrapped up literally hours before school began.

Windows original to the 1959 construction in all 26 rooms are being replaced and the parking lot enlarged and paved. The nurse's office has been doubled in size and there has been plenty of painting, wallpapering and carpeting to highlight the new spaces.

On Friday, retired teachers joined newcomers to decorate bulletin boards and handle a variety of other tasks in advance of the first buses pulling up.

"The good things that were happening before will continue," veteran Principal Janet Brownlie said Friday amid a flurry of organized chaos.

"It's really what goes on inside the school. We had a family feeling before with great teachers and that won't change."

It's been awhile since Adler Park School received this kind of attention. Closed from 1981 through 1987 because of declining enrollment, the building was renovated for a reopening of the 1988-89 school year. Four classrooms were added in 1990. A learning center and two more classrooms were added in 1991.

Aside from the physical improvements, there are a few more students reporting to class this year. The enrollment is expected to increase from 267 to 289, as the district's gifted program for fourth and fifth graders is shifted to Adler Park.

Altogether, District 70 made about $1.6 million in improvements this summer including parking lot work at Highland Middle and Copeland Manor schools.

Carpeting was installed at Butterfield School, completing a two-year renovation.

"It's almost like a brand new school," Friedman said.

Also, the district leased 600 new desktop computers "And we're increasing the bandwidth to 100 megabytes from four," Friedman said, adding that it will make the computers faster and able to have multiple users getting information at the same time.

That will give the district about 1,200 computers for about 2,500 students in the district's five schools. A new phone system also is in the mix.

"It's all about enhancing communication. That's one of the goals this year," Friedman said.