The girders outside Sandburg High School are the most visible sign that schools in Orland Park and Tinley Park are growing as quickly as the communities they serve.
There are major renovations going on in Consolidated High School District 230–at Sandburg in Orland Park and Andrew High School in Tinley Park. A middle school is being built in Elementary School District 146 in Tinley Park and additions to the two junior highs in Kirby Elementary School District 140 are under way.
But these projects are only part of the story. School curricula are growing, too, to accommodate insights into the learning process and new technology.
Consolidated High School District 230
The biggest construction work is in District 230, where the three schools–Sandburg, Andrew and Stagg High School in Palos Hills–are being revamped.
While the bricks and mortar are going up in traditional fashion, there’s a high-tech system for keeping track of the progress. People can monitor construction progress by checking out a Web site designed and maintained by students (www.schoolsofthought.d230.org).
According to Jim Sibley, who handles community relations for the district, the $130 million construction project has three goals: additional space for a growing enrollment, replacement of outdated facilities and response to the changing needs of students.
The outcome should be equal facilities in all three schools, so all students have the same access to performing-arts spaces, gyms and classrooms, he said.
Each school will have new classrooms, including science labs, a media center, a fitness center and a food-court-style cafeteria. Each building also will have some connected classrooms, called four-packs, that are suitable for team teaching.
“Each [campus] is being set up to create an environment that’s comfortable for students,” Sibley said.
“A lot of the inspiration [for the changes] came from school districts across the country that [are creating] an environment that’s centered on students,” he said. That includes room for future students.
Official figures put district enrollment at 7,567 students: 3,215 at Sandburg, 2,272 at Andrew and 2,080 at Stagg. When the renovations are finished in fall 2002, the schools will be able to accommodate 9,000 students: 3,600 at Sandburg, 3,000 at Andrew and 2,400 at Stagg, Sibley said.
While builders labor on the physical innovations, teachers are bringing in new ideas, most notably in technology.
Besides the construction Web site, students maintain Internet sites that provide information about student activities, such as band.
Some Sandburg students use Palm Pilots, which they can rent, lease or buy, to do classroom work, communicate and keep track of assignments.
Darrell Walery, the district’s technical director, said students are enthusiastic about the handheld computers, which have a variety of uses, including mathematical calculations and keeping track of calories burned by fitness activities. “You’re really only limited by the size of the screen,” Walerysaid.
At Andrew, a group of students is gaining real-world technological experience by working with Tinley Park businesses to develop their Web sites. Others are working on problem-based learning projects that require them to identify a problem in the school or the community and come up with solutions.
The district is not a place that rests on its laurels, Sibley said.
“We’re always pushing for new programs to meet the needs of [students of] all ability levels,” he said.
Bremen High School District 228
Tinley Park High School is not experiencing a physical growth surge.
“We’re just big enough to offer any course you want to take and all the sports,” Principal John McGraw said. “It’s also small enough to get your arms around the place.”
The school, one of four high schools in the district, enrolls about 1,000 students, some of whom live in Oak Forest and Markham. McGraw considers this number optimal.
Personal contact with students is important, he said.
For example, the director of student personnel services conducts exit interviews with graduating seniors to get their views on the value of their high school experience. “It makes the young men and women feel important that the school wants to learn from them,” McGraw said.
The role of technology is increasing and students now can take classes in everything from basic skills to computer math and Web site design.
The school serves as a regional center for hearing-impaired students. Between 80 and 90 percent of these students are mainstreamed and many participate in sports, McGraw said.
“It’s good for everybody,” he said. “The non-hearing-impaired see how to work with people with a disability.”
Orland Park School District 135
The district is one of the largest in the south suburbs–there are 5,629 pupils in kindergarten through 8th grade in 10 schools.
The schools–the newest is Meadow Ridge, opened in 1998–have enough space so far but growth continues.
“We pick up about 60 or 70 kids a year,” said Joe Hogan, assistant director of assessment.
Freed from a pressing need to keep building, officials have turned their attention to the curriculum and its role in the community:
– A new science program, which began last September has four focuses: career knowledge, the link between technology and science, an emphasis on investigation and a partnership with the home.
– A reading program stresses skills and literature, said Debbie Dennis, assistant director of instructional services. “It’s not just `Dick and Jane.’ It’s rich literature, it’s real literature,” she said. The program, which began in September 1998, uses excerpts from literary works, such as the novel “Shiloh” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. The goal is to interest kids in reading the book.
– An intergenerational program, which began in September, has junior high school pupils teaching senior citizens how to use the Internet.
Technology plays an important role, with computers available in laboratories and individual classrooms, said Barb Rains, the district’s community relations director. “It’s a tool, but it’s not the only tool,” she said.
The district’s major project is the Public Engagement Initiative, which asks the community to agree on what constitutes student achievement and how to achieve it, Rains said. The report was scheduled to be presented to the school board earlier this month.
Focus groups were assembled “to engage people in creating a vision of student achievement,” Rains said.
Community values outlined at the meetings include strong primary reading skills, help for underachievers, engaged learning and a supportive environment, Rains said.
Kirby Elementary School District 140
Additions to the two junior high schools and curriculum innovations are the main news in the Tinley Park district, said Hank Danenberg, assistant superintendent of instruction.
There are 4,754 pupils in kindergarten through 8th grade in the eight schools.
A communication arts class that encompasses reading, writing, speaking and listening has been introduced throughout the district. “We found that kids are using technology now, but they need to learn how to use it,” Danenberg said.
The district’s goal is to “reshape” computer education as technological integration, so the pupils learn to use it for all subjects, including math, reading and social studies, he said
One new technology program is reality-based learning. Some pupils are creating a Web site for a local law firm, and pupils also put together a scale model of a new Park District building.
The district has begun a reading initiative for pupils in the primary grades “so they get off to a good start,” Danenberg said, and now the concentration has moved to upgrading math instruction.
Officials also are considering adding early childhood education and full-day kindergarten. “We do see the need for some pupils,” Danenberg said, adding that new classes will have to wait until there’s more space.
“We’re always looking at new kinds of things, but we always want quality,” he said.
Arbor School District 145
Two of Oak Forest-based Arbor Park School District 145 schools are in Tinley Park. Scarlet Oak School is the 3rd- and 4th-grade center for the district, which enrolls students from Oak Forest and Tinley Park. Kimberly Heights School is the early childhood center for the district, the site of preschool classes, mother-child play groups and kindergarten.
Community Consolidated
School District 146
Growth has leveled off in the Tinley Park district, Supt. Gerald Hill said.
“We’re pretty stable. We’ve had 2,500 pupils for a long time,” he said.
The pupils, in prekindergarten through 8th grade, attend six schools–four in Tinley Park and one each in Orland Park and Oak Forest.
Central Middle School will be replaced by a new structure to fill the need for “both space and modernization,” Hill said. The new Central school is scheduled to open this fall at 18146 S. Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park.
Most of the energy is focused on upgrading instruction, Hill said.
A new district-wide social studies program has a strong technology component, he noted, with pupils using the Web extensively for research and content tied into the state learning standards.
“We have a wide variety of opportunities for kids,” Hill said. “We have a strong program for special education. We practice full inclusion. We don’t separate pupils. We bring services to pupils.
“Our slogan is `Learning for all, whatever it takes,’ ” he said
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High schools
Bremen High School District 228
Bremen Township: 15203 Pulaski Rd., Midlothian
Hillcrest:175th Street and Pulaski Road, Country Club Hills
Oak Forest: 151st Street and Center Avenue, Oak Forest
Tinley Park: 6111 175th St., Tinley Park
Consolidated High School District 230
Andrew: 171st Street and 90th Avenue, Tinley Park
Sandburg: 13300 S. La Grange Rd., Orland Park
Stagg: 8015 W. 111th St., Palos Hills
Elementary schools
Orland Park School District 135
Centennial: 1410 Creek Crossing Drive, Orland Park
Center: 9407 W. 151st St, Orland Park
Century Junior High: 10801 W. 159th St., Orland Park
High Point: 14825 West Ave., Orland Park
Jerling Junior High: 8851 W. 151st St., Orland Park
Liberty: 8801 W. 151st St., Orland Park
Meadow Ridge: 10959 W. 159th St., Orland Park
Orland Junior High: 14855 West Ave., Orland Park
Park: 9960 W. 143rd St., Orland Park
Prairie: 14200 S. 82nd Ave., Orland Park
Kirby Elementary School District 140
Bannes: 169th Street and Odell Avenue, Tinley Park
Fernway Park: 16600 S. 88th Ave., Orland Park
Grissom Junior High: 17000 S. 80th Ave., Tinley Park
Keller: 7846 W. 163rd St., Tinley Park
Kirby: 173rd Street and Ozark Avenue, Tinley Park
McAuliffe: 8944 W. 174th St., Tinley Park
Millennium: 178th Street and 84th Avenue, Tinley Park
Prairie View Junior High: 8500 W. 175th St., Tinley Park
Arbor Park Elementary School District 145
Scarlet Oak School: 5731 Albert Drive, Tinley Park
Kimberly Heights School: 6141 Kimberly Drive, Tinley Park
Morton-Gingerwood School: 16936 Forest Ave., Oak Forest
Arbor Park Middle School: 15900 Oak Avenue, Oak Forest
Community Consolidated School District 146
Central Middle: 17248 S. 67th Ave., Tinley Park (The new Central Middle School will open this fall at 18146 S. Oak Park Ave., Tinley Park.)
Cruse Education Center: 7617 Hemlock Drive, Orland Park
Fierke Education Center: 6535 W. Victoria Drive, Oak Forest
Fulton: 6601 W. 171st St., Tinley Park
Memorial: 6701 W. 179th St., Tinley Park
Sandidge: 16600 S. 66th Ave., Tinley Park
Parochial schools
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin: 9300 W. 167th St., Orland Hills
St. George: 6700 W. 176th St., Tinley Park
St. Michael: 14355 Highland Ave., Orland Park
