News from the April 17 Board of Education Meeting

The District 64 Board of Education held a regular meeting on Thursday, April 17.

• You can watch or listen to a replay of the meeting here on our YouTube page.
• The agenda and report packet are on the Board Meetings Page.

Student/Staff Recognition 

Those Who Excel Awards - We had six of our seven Those Who Excel Award Winners in attendance as we celebrated their awards from the Illinois State Board of Education. Read about our winners here. 

Science Olympiad - On April 5, 118 4th- and 5th-grade students competed in the Science Olympiad. Check out our story to see all of the medal winners. Congratulations to all who participated! 

D64 Shining Stars at Carpenter - We had the honor of recognizing Carpenter’s D64 Shining Stars: 5th grader Genevieve Suh and School Technologist Ben Pfander. Read more about the impact both have made for the Cougars. 

Educator Appreciation Week - Starts on May 5. This is always a great week and an excellent chance to celebrate all of our staff! “It takes a lot of people to get through the school year, and if you’re looking to brighten up one of your educators' days, just send them a quick note. To them, it makes a huge difference, and they very much appreciate it,” said Superintendent Dr. Ben Collins.  

Superintendent Update

Protect D64 Website - As part of our commitment to keeping the community informed, we've launched the Protect D64 webpage. This central resource will house key information about each school's project, as well as updates along the way.

Construction Groundbreaking - We are hosting a groundbreaking ceremony on May 15 from 5:00 p.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. at Carpenter Elementary School. This marks the beginning of all our referendum-related projects, which will start this summer.

View Photos From The Meeting

Approval of Student Device Purchasing Plan

Motion Approved

The District Technology Department did a comprehensive Student Device Evaluation this year to ensure that our 1:1 Digital Learning Program and associated student devices continue to support the District’s vision, mission, and strategic plan, provide access to needed curriculum, and are affordable and sustainable for the future. 

Through staff and family surveys, as well as listening sessions and other data collection, we recommended the following changes to the 1:1 Digital Learning Program:

• Move all students in grades 2-8 to a touchscreen, clamshell (non-flip) Chromebook.
• Move all grade 2-8 Chromebooks to a hardshell protective case with an embedded carrying handle.
• Keep grade 2 Chromebooks in the classroom and do not send them home until the end of the school year.
• Keep K-1 students on iPads that stay in the classroom, but purchase new cases that allow for increased student functionality with the devices.

Approval of Middle School Schedule 2026-27

Motion Approved

Accompanying Middle School Review Resources

• View the presentation slide deck from Dr. Samantha Alaimo, Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning.
• Read the Middle School Review Memo

A committee of 30 school staff and district representatives met 8 times this year to review multiple schedules and discuss programming. Throughout this work, the committee recommended that a new middle school schedule be adopted, starting in the 2026-27 school year, and the Board approved this at its April meeting. 

The new middle school schedule was designed to address the identified areas for growth, particularly in reading and math achievement, while preserving the valued aspects of our current middle school experience. Many key components of the middle school day will remain the same, including the start and end times, teacher prep and team times, and the length of the lunch and recess periods. We will continue to offer four core content areas and maintain 12 elective choice slots for seventh and eighth graders, along with sixth-grade exploratory classes. The teaming philosophy and homeroom/advisory periods will also remain in place to support student well-being and development.

The primary changes involve moving to a common bell schedule for all grade levels and shifting all classes to a trimester system (with the exception of Health). This allows core and elective periods to be more evenly spread throughout the day, addressing feedback about the large blocks of core classes. We are increasing the instructional time for ELA and Math to 80-minute periods to provide more focused learning in these critical areas, while Science and Social Studies will have 40-minute periods. Although there will be three 40-minute elective periods instead of four, we have restructured offerings to ensure that students still have 12 pure elective choices between seventh and eighth grade, as opposed to the current model, which includes some required electives and core teachers teaching elective classes.

What's the same for the 2026-27 schedule?

• Start/end time
• Lunch/recess period
• 4 core content areas (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies)
• 12 elective choice slots for 7th/8th grade
• 6th grade exploratory classes
• Team configurations (students will still be placed on a team for 6th and 7th/8th grade)
• Homeroom/Advisory Programming

What has changed for the 2026-27 schedule?

• Common bell schedule for all grades
• No large core or elective blocks of time in succession
• All classes will rotate on a trimester basis (except for Health)
• 3 elective periods for 7th & 8th grade
• Length of core classes are different
• Core teachers will not teach an elective class
• No core elective classes will be offered as they are now