Full-day kindergarten on its way: 25 new Dist. 25 classrooms earn Arlington Heights approval
In a month's time, Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 got all the village approvals it needed for six major building expansions brought on by a new voter-sanctioned full-day kindergarten program.
Additions at Westgate, Dryden, Olive-Mary Stitt and Patton elementary schools were authorized by the village board during meetings in February, and on Monday night came the final set of approvals, for Greenbrier and Windsor.
The aggressive review and approval schedule will allow the district to get shovels digging as soon as the ground thaws and cut ribbons on a total of 25 new classrooms across the district when the half-day kindergarten program expands to a full-day in August 2024.
District officials have been quick to get construction drawings together, hold neighborhood meetings and appear before Arlington Heights' review committees after a $75 million tax-increase ballot measure passed by 50 votes and was certified in July.
At Greenbrier, 2330 N. Verde Drive, a one-story addition of two new classrooms, more storage and hallways will be built at the southwestern end of the building. It will connect to a two-story addition of four classrooms and four offices built in 2017 to handle increased enrollment.
The K-5 school — which also houses the district's early childhood program — has 386 students. But two additional classrooms, to 26 total, will allow space for 20 more students, according to district projections.
At Windsor, 1315 E. Miner St., a one-story addition of two new classrooms, to 34 total, will be built within the school's southeastern courtyard. A 2017 project added six classrooms, a larger gym, new offices and bathrooms.
Home to the district's special education programs, Windsor has 455 students and is projected to have room for 11 more.
Trustee Rich Baldino, who lives down the block from the school, expressed concerns with vehicle stacking on Windsor Drive, Miner Street and even Eastman Street in the mornings and afternoons. After traffic improvements were made as part of the last building project in 2017, he said the situation is “better.”
“But it makes me nervous,” he said. “I avoid this intersection like the plague when school is picking up or dropping off.”
Baldino asked the district to take a closer look at the queuing and maybe use its west parking lot.
While construction is scheduled to begin on the larger school expansions — such as at Westgate and Dryden — in late spring or early summer, work on the smaller projects at Greenbrier and Windsor might not begin until winter 2023.