Work begins on Salt Creek District 48 schools’ upgrades
By the time the day was over, Salt Creek District 48 Superintendent Amy Zaher had become familiar with a hard hat.
She wore three of them — one for every groundbreaking she attended recently at schools in Elmhurst, Oakbrook Terrace, and Villa Park.
Voters in November 2024 approved the sale of $48 million in bonds to pay for the “Safe Schools/Secure Futures” project, which will improve Salt Creek Primary School in Elmhurst, Stella May Swartz School in Oakbrook Terrace, and John E. Albright Middle School in Villa Park.
Built in 1977, Salt Creek is the youngest of the three schools. The other two were constructed in the late 1950s.
“We just want to make this more of a welcoming place for our families and the community and a safer place as well,” Zaher said. “The buildings were not built for this day and age.”
Most of the work will be completed by the time the schools reopen for the start of the 2025-26 academic year.
Albright, 1110 S. Villa Ave., will have “the heaviest touch,” Zaher said.
The two-story school will get a new, secure entrance vestibule and ADA accessibility, including an elevator. Its two entrances will be consolidated into one for enhanced security. In addition, the building will get a larger gymnasium, improved locker rooms, and a renovated library.
“Most people are moving away from libraries. We’re embracing the library and actual books,” Zaher said.
Albright’s new gym is the one thing that Zaher said won’t be ready when students return on Aug. 27. The district is seeking alternatives for sports at locations such as Willowbrook High School and other schools in the Salt Creek Valley Conference, she said.
Swartz School 17W160 16th St., will add a secure vestibule with ADA accessibility at the entrance where an “English basement” — stairs up and down — previously obscured sight lines. The school art room will be moved to the first floor to provide additional classroom space for service personnel such as social workers and reading specialists.
Salt Creek, 980 S. Riverside Drive, will add art, music and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classrooms and address student drop-off and pickup areas Zaher said have been “problematic.”
Located on a frontage road off Route 83, the pickup/drop-off area will be expanded with extra parking and a widened driveway that separates bus and car traffic.
In addition, each of the three schools will get new restroom facilities, according to Zaher.
District 48 serves roughly 500 students, from prekindergarten through eighth grade, over the three schools.
Zaher said voters and district parents felt passionately about the updates.
“Sixty percent is pretty strong community support,” she said. “I think that even though these are tough times, they do want to support our schools and make sure we have facilities that will keep our small-school feel updated and outfitted for the future.”