How District 204 plans to move freshmen back to Neuqua Valley High School

Naperville’s Neuqua Valley High School will bring all four grade levels under one roof for the first time in more than two decades when freshmen are expected to move to the main campus building at the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Architects have proposed building additions as well as renovations to accommodate freshmen. Indian Prairie Unit District 204 also plans to repurpose the Birkett Center — the Neuqua Valley freshman campus since the early 2000s — as part of an ambitious list of projects made possible by voter-authorized funding.

“That building will have served us for 24 years when we transition and sunset our use of it, and we look to serve the next generation of Wildcats under one roof in 2027,” Assistant Principal David Perry said.

Voters last year overwhelmingly approved the district’s request to issue up to $420 million in bonds to fund projects throughout the Aurora-based school system. The district will make comprehensive improvements to Waubonsie Valley High School, plus Gregory and Hill middle schools. The district also is making school entrances more secure and replacing infrastructure across the district.

At Neuqua Valley, “we're going to have 700 to 800 plus students that annually come to us as freshmen,” Perry said. And that means it needs more square footage.

The project calls for two significant additions to Neuqua Valley’s main building.

“We're going to maintain the main entrance, but that addition in the front will house some of those key student resources and staff resources,” said Steve Shearer of Wight & Company, an architectural firm hired by the district.

A two-story addition in the back will primarily include classrooms and science labs. It also will connect two of the academic wings of the building for better circulation and better wayfinding, Shearer said during a recent school board presentation on the construction program and timeline.

“When we looked at our master schedule and the projection of what it would be to bring our freshmen over, one of the things we really needed is the specialized spaces of science labs, not just an open space to put students, but we needed space that could serve our science department,” Perry said.

Neuqua will gain some dining space, in part by taking over some of the current special education classrooms.

“In doing so we need to relocate them. They're going to be centrally located, very much like Waubonsie in one area in our D wing. This is proximal to their transport, drop off and pick up,” Perry explained. “And I think this is going to serve our special education department really well.”

Housing staff members in the front addition — facing 95th Street — also allows the district to create more classroom square footage in the heart of the building.

Officials say they like how the additions blend in with the existing building. Perry noted “modern touches with the extra glass that allows some more sunlight to get in.”

“I think the additions with the use of the glass looks beautiful, and I agree it does look like it could have just been built in that way,” school board member Catey Genc said.

While officials are fine-tuning logistics, construction will primarily impact the exterior of the building beginning in spring 2026. Families should also expect a revised main entry and entrance pattern.