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YORKVILLE – The implementation of a full-day kindergarten schedule was the big news in Yorkville School District Y115 for 2022.
Although a longtime goal, the school district’s decision to introduce a full-day kindergarten schedule came about relatively quickly.
The full-day program was approved by the Yorkville School Board on April 25, after the district created an exploratory committee to investigate the proposal little more than a month earlier.
Projected kindergarten enrollment was about 450 students throughout the district, which hired an additional 10 teachers.
Yorkville inaugurated its full-day kindergarten schedule for the 2022-23 school year on Aug. 25, giving the youngsters an entire school day of learning, socializing and play, replacing a half-day schedule that remains an option for parents.
The full-day kindergarten schedule means that the students have physical education every day, instead of only once every four days under the half-day model.
The full-day schedule also allows for recess along with art and music instruction.
In all, the kindergarten school day was lengthened to seven hours from three hours under the half-day program and includes an additional 110 instructional minutes.
While formulating its full-day kindergarten plans, district officials realized they would need to free up space at some elementary schools to make room for the expanded kindergarten schedule.
The result was the district’s purchase of a building that had been used as a day care center and transforming the facility into the Early Childhood Learning Center, which opened at the start of the school year.
Located at 101 Garden St., the center is designed for children ages 3 to 5 who have been identified as needing special attention for their development.
Over the summer, the school district spent $1 million to purchase the commercial building that had been home to the We Grow Kids day care center and another $1 million to transform the 10,000-square-foot space into a fully equipped school.
The Early Childhood Center has about 200 students and a staff that includes teachers, aides, speech therapists, physical therapists, social workers, a nurse and other professionals.
The reconfigured building space has eight classrooms, plus offices, activity rooms, storage areas and plenty of bathrooms.
Meanwhile, the school district opened another facility to prepare its youngest learners.
The district and the city of Yorkville worked together to open the Future Foxes Preschool in a district-owned building at 702 Game Farm Road between Yorkville Academy and the athletic stadium. The preschool opened its doors Sept. 8.
The new preschool, using curriculum supplied by the school district, is being operated by the city of Yorkville’s Parks and Recreation Department.
The school district renovated the building, creating two new classroom spaces, at a cost of about $47,000.
The preschool has an enrollment of about 100 and a waiting list. Each classroom is designed for a different program. One will serve 2- and 3-year-old students, while the other is for 4-year-olds.
Security concerns remained paramount for the district in 2022.
Over the summer, the district overhauled its security camera network at a cost of nearly $1 million with a new state-of-the-art system that replaced existing cameras while providing an additional 287, bringing the total number of cameras district-wide to 478.
Inside school buildings, the cameras have been installed in common areas including hallways, the cafeteria and gymnasium, but not in classrooms. Outside cameras monitor building entrances, parking lots and the football stadium.
The camera system is linked directly to the Yorkville Police Department, allowing officers to watch events on camera in real time.
Meanwhile, in addition to a Yorkville police school resources officer based at Yorkville High School, the district is employing five armed, highly trained security personnel, with plans to add two more this school year.
The School Board on Oct. 24 approved measures designed to prevent intruders from gaining access to school buildings and to provide first responders with detailed maps of building interior layouts.
Board members voted to spend $35,000 for the installation of a product that will shatterproof existing glass on school building front doors and the vestibules immediately inside.
The retrofitting project includes all 11 of the district’s school buildings.
The 2022 Illinois Report Card, prepared annually by the Illinois State Board of Education, was released Oct. 27.
With a four-year graduation rate of 96%, nearly nine percentage points above the state average, Yorkville students are showing continued achievement, even as the district works to close “equity gaps” in student performance.The report card provides a detailed look at each school’s progress on academics, student success, finances and school culture and climate.
One district school, Grande Reserve Elementary School, received the “exemplary” designation, placing it in the state’s top 10%. All other schools in the district, including the high school and the middle school, were rated as “commendable.”
Overall, Yorkville’s students demonstrated proficiency in English language arts, mathematics and science across grade levels, exceeding the state average during the 2021-22 school year.
Enrollment in the district continued to climb.
The number of students grew by 263 over the previous year, now standing at 6,947 and projected to add another 1,500 students in the next 10 years.
And new staff members of all types, ranging from additional kindergarten teachers and social workers to more security guards, has grown the district payroll to about 900 employees.
Those additions, along with a new four-year teacher contract with the Yorkville Education Association, are among the drivers behind an increase in the school district’s budget for fiscal year 2023.
The district school board Sept. 26 approved a $91.2 million spending plan, up from $85 million last year.