Fox Lake should take pride in schools

As a Realtor for 20 years and a school board member for 12 years it has become clear to me that the reputations of our schools are often out of step with the facts or 20 years behind the times. Schools are constantly evolving, some deteriorating due to dramatic enrollment increases or financial difficulties, other improving by implementing programs that really impact children and the staff who teach them. Increases in eighth grade test scores begin with changes at the first-, second- and third-grade levels, and, needless to say, take years to show results.

I'd like to call attention to and compliment the progress made in the Fox Lake elementary schools (District 114). As a board member in the 1990s I recall assembling an administrative team that we felt could work with our dedicated staff and improve the programs and methodologies to achieve better results for our students. I remember being told that there were no quick fixes but that the analysis they performed and the changes they implemented would, over time, lead to increases in student achievement. While there is more to judging a school than test scores, they are an important part of the story.

Administrators, teachers and parents worked together year after year, and, slowly but surely, turned that district into one of the best around. Those results serve as proof that despite tight budgets, ever-changing state and federal programs and a widely varied student body, a determined community and a hardworking staff can, under the right leadership, overcome those obstacles and produce dramatic results. Thank you on behalf of the children of Fox Lake.

Michael Lescher

Fox Lake