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Newest School Won't Be Opening

Posted on: Friday, 17 February 2006, 21:00 CST

By Sara Hooker Daily Herald Staff Writer

Indian Prairie's 22nd elementary school will be completed this fall in southwest Naperville but won't open because there aren't enough students, officials said Tuesday.

The neighborhood that will be served by Peterson Elementary School is developing more slowly than expected and has produced only about 50 children. The building, designed to house 850 students, is under construction near 103rd Street and Normantown Road.

"Because that area hasn't built, we have more space than we need at the elementary level in that area," Unit District 204 Superintendent Howard Crouse said. "Without students to make it a viable operation to justify the additional staff that go with opening a building, we'll leave it closed and review it again in the middle of next year."

The Peterson attendance area is west of 248th Avenue and includes Ashwood Park, Ashwood Creek and surrounding subdivisions.

Students in the Peterson attendance area currently attend Graham, Kendall or Wheatland elementary schools.

Crouse said there are three reasons growth in the area has been slower than expected.

First, he thinks roadwork in the area of 248th Avenue and 111th Street made access to the area difficult for much of the past year.

Second, the price of homes in the Peterson attendance area is high-end.

Third, he believes questions about possible high school boundary changes may have had an impact.

If voters approve a third high school in the district's March 21 referendum push, the school board recently decided students from Peterson will attend Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora.

The extra elementary space stands in stark contrast to overcrowding at the district's middle and high schools.

Given the complexities of the curriculum at the upper levels, though, Peterson couldn't provide relief for other schools, officials said.

"All buildings are not created equal," Crouse said. "Without a complete overhaul or a change in everything we try to do, that building won't fit the need that we have at the middle school and high school level."

The $11 million elementary school is being built with the remainder of a 2002 school construction grant from the state. Developers donated the land for the 70,000-square-foot facility.

Officials say there's little cost associated with not opening the school next fall other than small amounts for utilities and custodial services.

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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