Naperville D203 to spend $7 million on renovations to Kennedy Junior High

Chicago Tribune

17-06-2025

A $7 million renovation project at Kennedy Junior High School is to begin next summer under a plan approved Monday by the Naperville District 203 School Board.
The project would eliminate four outdoor pod classrooms used for more than 25 years and convert an underutilized, inaccessible interior courtyard into classrooms for Project Lead the Way courses, said Lisa Xagas, the district's assistant superintendent for strategy and engagement. The space should be ready for use by winter/early spring 2027.
Family and Consumer Sciences classes also will be renovated for use starting in the 2026-27 school year.
The outdoor pods will be decommissioned and removed by the end of 2026-27 school year, according to district documents.
Renovation work will increase the classroom capacity at Kennedy Junior High School, 2929 Green Trails Drive, Lisle, which is one of the highest enrolled junior high schools in the district. The school is projected to house more than 900 students annually for the next three years, Xagas said.
It also provides students with more technology, space and opportunities to discover their passions through problem-solving learning, she said.
'What we do is give students experiences that set them up for success when they leave us,' she said.
In the Family and Consumer Sciences, students learn topics such as culinary and nutrition studies and hospitality and food service industry work. By 8th grade, they become entrepreneurs and have to create, pitch and market a product.
Students have created everything from candles to T-shirts to robots and used 3-D printers or sewing skills as part of their 'Shark Tank'-style entrepreneurship course, Xagas said
Project Lead the Way courses include such STEM topics as computer programming and robotics.
District officials said the renovations, which also have been done at other junior high schools, help prepare students for college and careers by exposing them to the new technology. In 8th grade, students create a flexible four-year plan for high school to help guide them.
'They start to think even in 8th grade, what is a pathway or an interest that I have for four years of high school,' Xagas said. 'If we give them more exposure to that in middle school, they are more prepared.'
The middle school courses also help students better decide which topics they like or don't like, she said.
Final renovation design work will be completed this summer, and the project is expected to go to bid in the fall, district documents said.
At the Monday meeting, the school board also approved its 2025-26 budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Revenue in the new fiscal year is expected to be about $355.6 million, a 3.29% increase over the 2024-25 budget, said Michael Frances, the district's chief financial officer.
Expenditures are projected to be $379.5 million, with about $22.2 million spent on one-time capital improvement projects to be funded with money accrued in savings over several years. The projects include an addition to Ranch View Elementary School in Naperville and improvements at Naperville North High School and Connections Transition Services.
The budget calls for a new literacy curriculum for all students at a cost of $3.2 million spread out over three years, replacing curriculum that had been implemented in 2024. The update supports foundational reading skills, vocabulary development, advanced comprehension and writing instruction, Xagas said last month.
Start-up costs for a girls' flag football program at Naperville Central and Naperville North high schools are also covered in the spending plan. The Illinois High School Association debuted girls flag football in fall 2024.
Additionally, funds are also being allocated for a new support staff mentoring program and a staff leadership academy.
Newly elected board members Marc Willensky and Holly Blastic said Monday they appreciated that district administrators took the time to explain the budget process to them. The first-time board members were elected in April and sworn in last month.
Other board members thanked the administration for its work in preparing the budget.
'You can tell when somebody really understands something because they can explain it to you in 15 different ways,' board President Charles Cush said. '… It's good to know that we are in really great hands.'