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Why some Naperville 5th-graders could be heading to junior high early

Some fifth-graders in Naperville could be heading to junior high a year early.

Fifth-grade students from Naper Elementary might be shifted to Washington Junior High to alleviate overcrowding beginning next year if Naperville Unit District 203 school board members approve the plan.

Board member Susan Crotty called the topic an "emotional" issue for parents, especially some with the nostalgia of having attended Naper at 39 S. Eagle St. just outside downtown Naperville as youngsters themselves. But she said she heard the message from administrators loud and clear:

"This is the best choice for students and for learning," Crotty said.

Naper Elementary principal Julie Beehler said space issues at the 12-classroom school built on 2.3 acres were exasperated when the district recently began all-day kindergarten. That took up an extra classroom and forced art classes into the library.

There already was a space crunch with small group instruction taking place in hallways, music ensembles sharing a basement room and some individual music lessons using the teachers' lounge, Behler said.

Before administrators recommended moving roughly 50 incoming fifth-graders to nearby Washington Junior High, they considered four other options: reconfigure Naper Elementary's existing space, build an addition, move kindergartners to another building or close the school.

"It became clear that our best option is to reduce the number of students attending Naper," Beehler said.

Parents said the need to do something to open more space at Naper was no surprise. And when they've asked questions about logistics, arrival time, how fifth-graders will be separated from older junior high students and how elementary traditions will be retained if the students are moved, parents Cheryl Farsalas and Nicole Kreuzer said they've all been answered.

"We've known that there's been a considerable space issue for some time and this was a well thought-out plan," Kreuzer said.

Washington Junior High has two classrooms and nearby lockers it can dedicate to fifth graders, who would enter through a door near the main office different from the one sixth- through eighth-grade students use. Principal Jon Vogel said the fifth-graders would start class later and finish earlier than the others in junior high and would have their own lunch and recess time.

Naper Elementary has 349 students enrolled this year - about 20 more than projected. Washington Junior High has 616 students - about 15 fewer than projected. Plus, the junior high can hold 750 kids, administrators said.

The school board plans to discuss moving fifth graders during a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7 in the administrative center at 203 W. Hillside Road before taking a vote during a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21.

"With careful planning that will include parent and teacher input," Kitty Ryan, assistant superintendent for elementary education, said, "we will ensure a strong, developmentally appropriate program for our fifth graders."

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