Naperville Community Unit School District 203 is one of the largest and highest performing districts in Illinois.
Roughly 60,000 students come from Naperville, Lisle and Bolingbrook to attend one of the district’s 22 schools.
Naperville students benefit from the majority of their teacher’s having advanced degrees as well as a 92 percent teacher retention rate. The district’s high student attendance rate outperforms the state average.
Here’s a breakdown on everything parents should know about District 203.
1. Overview of Naperville Community Unit District 203
- Phone number: 630-420-6300
- Number of schools: 22
- Number of students: 15,935
- Pupil to teacher ratio: 17:1
- Operational expenditure per Student: $19,245
- Quick links: School calendar, enrollment information
- Claim to fame: Naperville’s large size and good reputation for student outcomes makes it a popular choice for families. Extensive STEAM offerings, sports options and extracurriculars give it an edge. Students have a 96 percent graduation rate and 64 percent of teachers have an advanced degree.
2. Strategic blueprint update
An extensive new report released by the district this January as part of the Focus 203 Strategic Blueprint proposes major changes to day to day life for students and educators. The report is based on findings derived from several years of analysis and feedback from staff, students, caregivers and community stakeholders.
The first strategic focus of the blueprint is to create a system of support for college, career and life readiness. To that point, one of the focus of the blueprint is to conduct an analysis of innovative school days models that would support more flexible use of time and space for all students.
Major proposals within the report include adding 15 minutes to the elementary day, shifting middle and high school to later start times, no school days to start before 7:30 a.m. nor end later than 4 p.m., extending time for mathematics instruction, a new block schedule for deeper learning and fewer transitions between classrooms.
3. Proposed changes for early childhood education
A proposal to change how early childhood education operates in the district was announced as part of the Focus 203 Strategic Blueprint.
The report proposes changes to the early childhood program by offering dedicated a.m. sessions for 3 year olds and p.m. sessions for 4 and 5 year olds. The proposed change is meant to allow for more tailored instruction to each developmental stage and incorporate more play based preparation for kindergarten. Supporters of the change also suggest it would allow more time for instructors to meet student needs and early childhood standards.
The district’s youngest students currently attend school in multi-age classrooms where children can be anywhere from 3 to 5 years old.
4.Proposal to shift school day times for elementary, middle and high school
The district has proposed extending the elementary school day by 15 minutes.
The extra time would be used for individualized interventions, daily morning meeting routines, explicit social and emotional learning time, and time for non-learning tasks like snack times in order to make more time for instruction, according to a new report. The district also says the added time into the elementary day could provide more opportunities for “collaboration within schools and across the district.”
For middle schoolers, the school day would shift the start and end times back. Days would begin at 8:50 a.m. and end at 3:40 p.m. For high schoolers, the change would both shorten the school day and shift the start time to 8:20 a.m., reports Naperville Community Television.
Some educators are pushing back on the change, saying the move is happening too quickly and without enough feedback from teachers, parents and staff. Naperville Community Television reported earlier this month that educators and parents expressed concerns over the school day time changes at a recent school board meeting.
5. Middle and high school block day schedule proposed by district
A new block schedule model is planned for middle and high school students. The change would implement longer instructional blocks of time with less transitions throughout the day.
The district says the new structure is intended to increase math instructional minutes, make time for individualized learning interventions, incorporate more social emotional learning time and more.
At the high school level, a typical schedule is eight to nine periods per day running from 42 to 50 minutes long. The block schedule proposal would push classes to 85 minutes each and create “A” and “B” days with one day serving as an “anchor” where students attend all classes in one day.
District leaders expressed concern over the length of classes at the high school level versus at college. Moving to block schedules would prevent cognitive overload, allow instructors to teach at a deeper level and better prepare students for the future, says the district.
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