School and Community Leaders Kick-Off High School Construction Monday

District 113 administrators will join local elected leaders and school community leaders to officially kick-off the Deerfield High School and Highland Park High School construction processes resulting from the passing of a community supported referendum. Community members are welcome to attend.

On Monday, June 30th at 9:30 a.m., Mayor Nancy Rotering and Mayor Charlie Pecaro will speak as will State Senator Julie Morrison, Representative Scott Drury, District 113’s Board of Education president, Marjie Sandlow, and the HPHS PTO co-president, Amy Small. Tom Koulentes, the new interim principal at HPHS, will comment on the proposed work that will significantly benefit students and staff. Jake Warsaw, who is a representative from Congressman Brad Schneider’s team, will also attend.

The festivities will take place at Highland Park High School on the south faculty parking lot just inside the construction fence. Attendees should park by the library entrance; it is required that attendees wear flat, closed-toe shoes because it is a construction site.

Then at 11:00 a.m., the elected officials State Senator Julie Morrison and Representative Scott Drury will join Deerfield’s Mayor, Harriet Rosenthal, at Deerfield High School to celebrate the numerous upgrades to Deerfield High School. Stacie Danielewicz, the DHS PTO president, and Ken Williams, an assistant principal at DHS, will speak too.

The celebration at DHS will take place just west of the main entrance turn around. Attendees should park in the main lot; it is required that attendees wear flat, closed-toe shoes because it is a construction site.

The work this summer includes Phase I of the interior classroom renovations. Each classroom involved will be updated; changes include new lighting, acoustic ceilings, HVAC systems, doors and high performance windows. Classroom renovations that fall within the scope of Phase I include Q and E wings at DHS and the 3rd floor of A-Wing at HPHS. A mock classroom was completed in each school in early April in order to give users an opportunity to see what is coming and to allow users to share important feedback about the renovations prior to completing multiple rooms this summer. 

In addition, work on the new 3-court gymnasiums will occur at both schools and DHS will break ground to begin building their new pool. Also at DHS, changes will be made to the west athletic entrance; an improved drop off loop will become a part of the final scope of the work.

Voters approved an $89 million dollar referendum on April 9, 2013 and planning for the many renovations has been ongoing ever since. This summer significant construction work has begun and the impact is already very visible on each campus.

The Oversight Committee and the District 113 Board of Education are collaborating to ensure they complete the project on time and on budget. Details about the construction, budgets and design plans are all available on the District 113 website at www.dist113.org.