Smooth first day in Mundelein District 75
If the reaction of students was an indication, opening day Monday at the Washington School in Mundelein was nearly flawless.
"I saw only one or two crying, which is pretty good," new Principal Jim Kallieris said. The Mundelein Elementary District 75 school serves grades K-2.
The main attraction Monday was the opening of a permanent addition to the school consisting of nine mobile units joined and connected to the west side of the main building on Garfield Avenue. The $800,000 project cost was about a quarter of new construction and provides classrooms for second graders.
"It's been the smoothest start of any I've had in 11 years as a principal," said Kallieris, who previously headed dual language programs at North Shore District 112 and Hawthorn District 73.
"A lot of parents have seen this but some of the kids were impressed - they were wide-eyed when they walked into the rooms," he said.
The added space has several advantages, school officials say.
"We've also been able to return special education students (to Washington) who were being educated outside the district," said school board President Wells Frice.
Kallieris' experience will come into play as Washington proceeds with a voluntary two-way Spanish/English immersion program. The program starts this year in kindergarten, but will expand in coming years to higher grades.
Four of the eight classrooms -- or nearly half the kindergarten students -- are enrolled in the program where half the day is taught in Spanish and the other half in English. Classes are comprised of half English speakers and half Spanish speakers.
"I think it's going to do a lot of good for the community as well as the school," Kallieris said.
Other changes in the district include the addition of preschool students to the Lincoln Early Learning Center, meaning all classrooms at the former school are used by District 75 or rented to other districts, Superintendent Andy Henrikson said.
Elsewhere, a new choral program is being introduced at Carl Sandburg Middle School, and making the science program more relevant and engaging is a focus districtwide. The idea is to increase excitement in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Henrikson added.
In a related matter, the district's Innovation Station, a cooperative effort of the district's foundation and community members, is scheduled to open Saturday at the district office, 470 N. Lake St. (Route 45) in Mundelein. Workshops on comic book creation, robotics and other subjects are being offered.