District 219 Schools Are Ready To Open

Niles West and Niles North high schools will be ready when students return for classes on Aug. 23, Niles Township High School District 219 Superintendent Nanciann Gatta told school board members Monday night.

During the board meeting, she showed board members a video about the district’s five main goals. The video was produced for the Skokie Chamber of Commerce, which plans to use it to help attract businesses and people to the area.

“They want District 219 to be front and center,” Gatta said, introducing the video. “I think this is a nice way to get excited for the school year.”

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The video highlighted the goals of:

1. Advancing and integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and 21st Century literacies.
2. Ensuring a guaranteed and rigorous curriculum and common final exam.
3. Engaging students in anywhere/anytime learning by providing laptop computers to expand their learning opportunities. 
4. Committing to a five-year comprehensive capital improvement plan.
5. Establishing and enhancing partnerships with parents, community organizations and outside agencies to strengthen our community of learners.

Parents and staff all received a letter over the summer detailing the district’s progress in meeting those goals in year two of its five-year plan.

The fourth goal was the one that got the most attention at the school board meeting, as Niles West High School Principal Kaine Osburn and Niles North High School Principal Ryan McTague reported on various improvements made to their buildings over the summer.

At Niles North, the plaza in front of the school has been remade, eliminating the stairs and replacing about 40 percent of the concrete with green space, including four birch trees.

As of Monday, about half the new concrete had been poured, McTague said, with the rest scheduled to be poured later this week.

At Niles West, work is ongoing on the south lobby, which is where students who take the bus and many of those who are dropped off enter the school.

The lobby itself will not be finished until October, Osburn said, but the entrance will be accessible to students.

The new Athletic Training Center, also known as the gymnastics gym, will be formally opened Sept. 2 by Olympic gold medalist and Niles West alumnus Bart Connor (class of 1976) and former Niles West gymnastics coach John Burkel.