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State Recognizes 7 Local Schools

Melissa Jenco of THE DAILY HERALD has reported that...

Their academic achievements, measured over three-year span, deemed exceptional...

Seven Naperville-area schools made the grade this year, and then some, by landing spots on the state’s honor roll.

The Illinois State Board of Education and Northern Illinois University recently announced this year’s honorees — individual schools that have maintained high levels of achievement or improved considerably.

This year 683 schools made the list compared to only 288 last year.

“I think that it’s really exciting to see positive increases in student achievement in the state and in 203,” Naperville Unit District 203 Superintendent Alan Leis said.

District 203’s Highlands, Meadow Glens and River Woods elementary schools earned Academic Excellence Awards for the second year in a row. Maplebrook Elementary and Naperville Central High School each took home the award this year as well.

Academic Excellence Awards are given to schools in which at least 90 percent of the elementary students or 80 percent of the high school students met or exceeded state standards for the past three years based on annual assessment exams.

Leis said there are phenomenal things going on in many schools that may not have met the criteria to be on the honor roll, but he is proud of the five on the list.

“I don’t believe this necessarily makes them better schools than others, but they’re able to achieve on higher levels,” Leis said. “Some of which is because of (staff and also) because of the talent pool.”

In neighboring Indian Prairie Unit District 204, Fry Elementary once again captured an Academic Excellence Award.

Like Leis, Superintendent Howard Crouse attributed the honor to having great students, teachers and parents.

“It’s nice to have one of our buildings on there. I’m sure we had a bunch that were really close,” Crouse said. “For an agency that says it’s not a score that we should be using to measure schools, they continue to measure that way. But it’s nice to have one on.”

Lisle Unit District 202 picked up an award as well. Lisle Junior High School won an Academic Improvement Award, meaning it has made significant improvements over the past three years.

Melissa Jenco of THE DAILY HERALD has reported that...

Their academic achievements, measured over three-year span, deemed exceptional...

Seven Naperville-area schools made the grade this year, and then some, by landing spots on the state’s honor roll.

The Illinois State Board of Education and Northern Illinois University recently announced this year’s honorees — individual schools that have maintained high levels of achievement or improved considerably.

This year 683 schools made the list compared to only 288 last year.

“I think that it’s really exciting to see positive increases in student achievement in the state and in 203,” Naperville Unit District 203 Superintendent Alan Leis said.

District 203’s Highlands, Meadow Glens and River Woods elementary schools earned Academic Excellence Awards for the second year in a row. Maplebrook Elementary and Naperville Central High School each took home the award this year as well.

Academic Excellence Awards are given to schools in which at least 90 percent of the elementary students or 80 percent of the high school students met or exceeded state standards for the past three years based on annual assessment exams.

Leis said there are phenomenal things going on in many schools that may not have met the criteria to be on the honor roll, but he is proud of the five on the list.

“I don’t believe this necessarily makes them better schools than others, but they’re able to achieve on higher levels,” Leis said. “Some of which is because of (staff and also) because of the talent pool.”

In neighboring Indian Prairie Unit District 204, Fry Elementary once again captured an Academic Excellence Award.

Like Leis, Superintendent Howard Crouse attributed the honor to having great students, teachers and parents.

“It’s nice to have one of our buildings on there. I’m sure we had a bunch that were really close,” Crouse said. “For an agency that says it’s not a score that we should be using to measure schools, they continue to measure that way. But it’s nice to have one on.”

Lisle Unit District 202 picked up an award as well. Lisle Junior High School won an Academic Improvement Award, meaning it has made significant improvements over the past three years.

204 Board Searches For Superintendent Replacement

As reported by Britt Carson of the Naperville Sun, three lucky superintendent search firms made the cut Monday to find the replacement for the next superintendent of Indian Prairie School District 204.

School board members held a committee meeting Monday to discuss proposals from seven superintendent search firms. After a short discussion board members agreed on three firms they wanted to invite for an interview on Aug. 2.

The firms are Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates; the Illinois Association of School Boards; and McPherson and Jacobson. The board used Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates in 1994 to hire Gail McKinzie who served as superintendent for nine years; as well as to hire Superintendent Tom Scullen.

Naperville School District 203 recently used the same firm, which is based in Glenview in 2002 to hire Alan Leis in 2002 as its superintendent. They paid the firm just under $20,000 for their services.

District 204 Board President Jeannette Clark will draft a letter of expectations to send to the three firms.

"We need to make sure we are all clear on what is covered by their search fee so we don't run into any hidden costs," Clark said. "We also need to decide how many applications (from candidates) we want to see or if we let the search firm decide."

District 204 board members heard an informational presentation from the IASB in May on what to look for in a search firm. Although the IASB does offer a superintendent search for a fee, the May presentation was free to help give board members an idea of when they need to start looking to replace Superintendent Howie Crouse.

Crouse announced earlier this year he will serve until 2007 and then retire. The district did not use a search firm when it promoted Crouse from associate to superintendent to his current position in 2004.

Naperville School District 203 Is Pulling Rank

As competition gets more fierce and pressure more intense, many schools are phasing out class ranking systems. Not everyone thinks that's a good idea. Recently, TIME reported that Naperville School District 203 is pulling the ranking.  What do you think?  Learn more about the TIME article by clicking here:  TIME Reports "How Schools Are Pulling Rank"

2006-2007 Naperville School Calendars

Mark Your Calendar....Here's the latest information for the School Year!

Naperville School District 203 2006-2007 School Calendar

Indian Prairie School District 204 2006-2007 School Calendar