The District 203 Board of Education has set aside approximately $32.9 million for renovations to Naperville North on April 16; these renovations will hopefully be completed by the 2025-2026 school year if approved at the next Board of Education meeting.
From the old turf to intercoms and classrooms, Naperville North has a laundry list of problems that need to be addressed. With this new renovation package, Naperville North plans to add turf fields to many of the open practice fields, add an addition to the building, create new instructional space and finally remove the mobile classrooms.
The mobiles are currently used for a multitude of classes throughout the day, but the new addition will render these classrooms useless. The school, even at an all-time population low, has been lacking classroom spaces due to the many programs offered throughout the building. Jay Wachtel, Assistant Principal of Operations, believes that Naperville North needs more instructional space as soon as possible.
“Supporting programs are taking up offices…so, while our enrollment has gone down, we also need more space,” said Wachtel.
Due to careful planning and saving by the district office, there has been a collection of finances slowly accumulating over the past decade in a savings account for various projects across the district. Wachtel explains that once the money has reached over 10% of the annual budget, the district has allowed spending from this account. This has sparked proposals for renovation projects for Naperville North High School and Ranch View Elementary School.
If these proposals are approved, there will be a confirmed timeline and end date for the renovations. The administration hopes that the projects will be completed by the 25-26 school year if there are no delays.Wachtel believes that once the proposal is approved, the school will begin to create a firm list of all the changes coming to North.
“We try to gather feedback from teachers and coaches… once the proposal is approved, we’ll start the process of everyone getting more involved,” said Wachtel.
