Latest news with #RiverForestHighSchool
Chicago Tribune
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Oak Park and River Forest High School board eyes remake of arts facilities
While the nearly $102 million Project 2 demolition and reconstruction of the southeast portion of Oak Park and River Forest High School is only about halfway done, thoughts are already turning to the next major project at the school. The OPRF District 200 Board of Education members recently heard a programming report about the goals of what is known as Project 3, which if approved would include the demolition and reconstruction of the southwest portion of the building. It's the next of five phases in OPRF's Imagine plan, named after a work group of community members that met to imagine the future of the school building. Project 3 will focus on the arts, especially music and theater. The two co-chairs of the Imagine work group, Lynn Kamenitsa, who is also a director of the Imagine Foundation, and Mike Poirier, presented the programming report to the School Board June 12. Alyson Sternquist, a project manager for the district's architectural firm, FGMA, who led the Project 2 design also spoke to the board. They all said the current facilities for arts and music in the southwest portion of the building need to be improved. 'Many are outdated, some of them are physically failing,' Kamenitsa said. 'Most of them are not accessible in the sense of ADA accessibility and many of them present health and safety concerns.' Kamenitsa said the physical shortcomings of the current spaces impair instruction. 'The programs that use those spaces, their needs aren't met,' Kamenista said. 'The result is that there is lost instructional time, it compromises faculty's ability to deliver their curriculum and, in the case of music, to conduct state mandated student assessments.' Kamenitsa said the space in the southwest portion of the building cannot be configured to meet current needs and standards. The report recommended new construction include new music classrooms and facilities, a Black Box theater that would mostly be used for student directed plays, some new physical education spaces including an adventure gym space, a cardio room, a trainer space, a new wrestling room and a green roof to manage stormwater runoff and designed to accommodate any future solar panels. The current 2,180 square foot band room is much too small and was not designed for the 125 or so students that are now in the band. Sternquist said current standards call for music spaces to have 30 square feet per student which would suggest a band room of 3,750 square feet. The programming report states the current band room is undersized, has hazardous noise levels, lacks recording and digital capability and the tiered floor is not ADA compliant. The recommendation is to have a double height ceiling, to get rid of risers and to accommodate recording and digital teaching needs. The report also envisions 18 ensemble practice rooms of various sizes. The next step in the process will be for the architectural firm FGMA to develop a conceptual design which should be ready by September. The school board voted to pay FGMA $182,500 for the conceptual design. After the board receives the conceptual design it will weigh in on what it desires and then by next spring, a detailed schematic design will be developed. School officials said the scope and cost of Project 3 cannot be determined until a schematic design is approved. Once the cost is determined the School Board will have to decide how to pay for Project 3. Work would not start until after Project 2 is completed next summer. Project 1, which was completed in 2023, included, among other things, a new two story student commons area, 15 new classrooms, including two new science labs, eight all gender bathrooms, a new cafeteria and a renovated main entrance. Project 1 cost $42.2 million and was paid for by using cash reserves. Project 2 is being paid for by a combination of cash reserves and borrowing along with some charitable donations raised by the Imagine Foundation. Next fall a community meeting will be held to solicit community input. Board member Tim Brandhorst said that input will be vital and suggested that at least one more community meeting be held next year. 'I hope that won't be the only opportunity for the community to tell us what they think about this project,' said Brandhorst about the one scheduled community meeting. Brandhorst also suggested trips to other area high schools could be scheduled to show taxpayers the facilities at other schools. Board member Josh Gertz, concerned about costs, wondered if the band and orchestra could perhaps share the same room but was told that was not realistic. 'All of these spaces are currently used all day long,' Sternquist said, noting that OPRF has robust band, orchestra and chorus programs. 'It's not realistic for band and orchestra to use the same space based on just the current curriculum.'
Chicago Tribune
24-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Oak Park and River Forest High School receiving $3.5 grant for HVAC system
Oak Park and River Forest High School is getting a $3.5 million state grant to help pay for the geothermal heating and cooling system that will regulate temperatures in the new portion of the school that is being built to replace the school's southeast corner that has been demolished. The grant has been in the works since the spending authority was approved last year but the money, which comes from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Opportunity's Build Illinois capital projects fund, was formally released by the Illinois General Assembly last month as part of the budget that was approved by state lawmakers at the end of May. 'I was happy to support the high school's request that the state play a part in what is a sweeping project to build a modern, environmentally and fiscally responsible school facility that will serve students and the community for years to come,' State Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said in a prepared statement. The construction project is known as Project 2. OPRF can use the money for any part of Project 2 but Heidi Ruehle, the executive director of the Imagine Foundation, said that the intent is to use the money to pay a portion of the approximately $12.5 million cost of geothermal work. The geothermal work is budgeted separately from Project 2, which is expected to cost nearly $102 million. 'It's not restricted to geothermal but it's expected to be used for green energy,' Ruehle said. 'Of course geothermal falls underneath that umbrella but there are other aspects to this project that do as well.' The new construction will include a new swimming pool, a new third floor gym, and a host of other additions and improvements. The Imagine Foundation, a nonprofit fundraising foundation dedicated to raising money to support Project 2, did most of the leg work in securing the grant but brought in OPRF officials to make the formal application. Ruehle said that the Imagine Foundation, then led by former executive director Lynn Kamenitsa, first reached out to Harmon's office in 2023 after the funding for Project 2 was approved. Harmon's office helped with the grant application process and connected the Imagine Foundation and OPRF staff with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. 'We just needed to understand how this could come together and they just kind of walked us through that process,' Ruehle said. The Imagine Foundation has committed to raising at least $12.5 million, and hopes to raise $15 million, to help pay for Project 2. It has already given $2 million to OPRF and plans to hand over another $1 million check to OPRF at the June 12 school board meeting. Ruehle said that since the Imagine Foundation did much of the work of securing the $3.5 million state grant it will count the $3.5 million in state money towards what the foundation has committed to raise. 'Because Imagine took the lead on this and it was part of our fundraising efforts,' Ruehle said. While focusing on private donations Ruehle said that the Imagine Foundation will continue to seek out government and other grants. 'We don't have any other major grants on the horizon but we're certainly hoping that they're out there,' Ruehle said. Although the $3.5 million state grant was first authorized last year the Imagine Foundation did not want to publicize the grant until it was certain that the grant would be released as part of this year's budget bill. 'We wanted to make sure the money was in hand or guaranteed before any information was put out there which we agreed on with D200 and Harmon's office,' Ruehle said. OPRF District 200 Superintendent Greg Johnson thanked Harmon and the Imagine Foundation for their help in securing the state grant. 'We are grateful to the OPRFHS Imagine Foundation and our local elected representatives for their assistance in securing state funding to help D200 build better educational facilities for our students,' Johnson said in a news release issued by OPRF. 'By supporting our investment in geothermal for Project 2, this grant helps us take a big step toward meeting our District's very ambitious sustainability goals, which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100% of 2012 levels by 2050.' While Harmon helped get $3.5 million for OPRF, that amount pales in comparison to the $40 million state grant that is going to Proviso West High School, the alma mater of Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, to build a sports complex. Before being elected as a state representative in 2012 Welch had served as president of Proviso Township High School District 209 Board of Education. 'The state budget funds projects in communities across the state,' said an emailed statement from Jon Maxson, a spokesman for Welch, when asked to comment about the grant for Proviso West. 'Since 2021, Speaker Welch has helped fund a $30 million bridge in Kane and McHenry county; $33 million for a sports complex in Tinley Park; $50 million for Woodlawn; $30 million for Fermilab in Batavia; and $50 million for Northwestern—all outside of his district. These are economic development projects that have invested in red and blue communities alike. One project in this year's budget helps a school in his district fund a new sports complex that will serve the entire community and surrounding area by supporting student athletics, community events, and opportunities for local businesses.'
Chicago Tribune
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Ernest Hemingway Foundation in Oak Park awards two $1,500 scholarships
Two talented young writers have won essay contests sponsored by the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park. Sofia Fitzgerald, of Oak Park, a rising senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School, won the 2025 Hemingway Foundation Student Scholarship Essay Contest, which is for juniors in high school. Luke Voegtle of Westchester, who graduated this spring from Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy in Forest Park, won the 2025 Allan O. Baldwin Memorial Student Scholarship, which is for seniors in high school. 'The foundation has been around since '83,' said Executive Director Keith Strom. 'From the get-go, the foundation's mission was around preserving, educating, and storing the creative life and writing of Ernest Hemingway. It was an easy segway to try to support younger writers as well. There's been an essay contest the majority of the years.' Competitors have to submit a 300-600-word essay, which is reviewed by a panel. Each of the two winners receive a $1,500 scholarship. The Hemingway Foundation Student Scholarship Essay Contest winner is also given a mentorship with the Hemingway's writer-in-residence, who from 2024-26 is Kate Sjostrom. In addition, both winners will have their essays published in the tenth annual edition of 'Hemingway Shorts.' Sofia Fitzgerald's essay is called, 'My Journey Through the Biblioglass.' 'I wrote about the libraries in Oak Park and how much they mean to me, and my journey with them, and how it's evolved since I was a baby going there,' Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald said she has been writing 'since I was a little kid, but this is the first time that I've published anything that I've written.' She decided to enter the Hemingway competition because, 'It seemed like a good opportunity to share my talent and love of writing.' She also entered the competition because she appreciated the writing prompt, which was to write about what your hometown means to you. When Fitzgerald learned that she had won the competition, 'I was genuinely so shocked. It was nice to see my work recognized.' Fitzgerald has already worked with mentor Sjostrom. 'Being able to have such an amazing mentor has definitely made me more willing and more excited to try and publish more of my work in my senior year,' she said. In terms of her career goal, although she loves writing, Fitzgerald said, 'I'm hoping to pursue something in international relations with the government.' Luke Voegtle's essay is called 'A Life of Adventure and Ikigai.' 'My essay was about discovering a Japanese concept called ikigai,' Voegtle said. 'It's focused around enjoying the smallest moments of life, like a small coffee chat with grandma or a nice conversation, rather than focusing on grand purpose. I went on a backpacking hike to Washington to explore this and search within myself and even though the journey was extremely tough, we met a woman there who helped us get through it and it was a life changing experience.' Voegtle is continuing that exploration, most recently backpacking through Europe with his brothers. He reported that writing has always been a passion of his. When he learned he had won the contest, Voegtle said, 'I was really excited. I was really honored because I've always enjoyed writing.' Voegtle will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall to study statistics. Hemingway Executive Director Strom reported that the two winners will also be recognized at an event in July. 'That's probably one of the most rewarding things of the various programming that we do,' Strom said. 'I get a kick out of seeing people being acknowledged for the talents that they have.'
Chicago Tribune
27-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Oak Park and River Forest High School teacher quits, alleges discrimination
A special education at Oak Park and River Forest High School who left her job and classroom with just two weeks left in the school year said in a public comment at a School Board meeting that she was forced to resign. Kiah Brown, who had taught at OPRF since 2019, addressed the OPRF District 200 school board at its May 22 meeting just six days after she abruptly left her job. In her approximately four minute statement at the meeting, Brown said she was forced to resign and that she believed her resignation constituted a 'constructive discharge,' a legal term meaning that conditions are so bad at a job that an employee has no alternative but to resign and is essentially fired. Brown told the board her experience at OPRF fell far short of the school's professed values of equity, inclusion and academic excellence. 'Unfortunately what I experienced and what I witnessed undermined those values,' a tearful Brown said at the meeting. 'Across departments and especially within the special education department, I observed inequitable treatment of students and staff and lack of support which led to the increase in turnover particularly among African American employees since the most recent change in administration. They reflect a pattern fueled by poor leadership practices, misrepresentation and the protection of internal leadership alliances over equity and accountability.' 'I've come to the point where the moral challenges I face within OPRFHS's system are no longer something I can ignore without compromising my own health and well-being,' Brown wrote. 'As much as I love the students I serve, I've realized that love cannot come at the cost of my own peace and professional integrity.' Brown also accused unnamed OPRF administrators of fostering a hostile work environment and inflicting psychological and professional harm on her. 'What I've endured is not isolated; it's part of a collective pattern of targeted attacks carried out by what I would describe as individuals operating like 13th graders,' Brown said. Brown, a math teacher, urged the board to look into what has been going on at OPRF and 'stop allowing image to outweigh impact.' 'You cannot continue to market equity by indirectly supporting those who perpetuate the antithesis and inadvertently punishing those who advocate for it,' she said. According to her LinkedIn page, Brown has just been hired as a case manager at Whitney Young High School in Chicago. 'Please be advised that Ms. Brown resigned for personal reasons,' Roberts wrote. Roberts told them a full time substitute who is a licensed learning behavior specialist at OPRF would take over Brown's assignments for the last two weeks of the school year. 'We would like to assure you that we have taken the necessary steps to ensure continuity of instruction for your student,' Roberts wrote. The School Board met in closed session at the meeting for 45 minutes with the district's human resources director Roxana Sanders and director of Special Education Andrea Neuman. After the meeting Sanders, Neuman and Superintendent Greg Johnson all declined to comment when asked about their reaction to Brown's public comment. New School Board president Audrey Williams-Lee had a short answer when asked about her reaction to Brown's comments. 'Everyone has the right to express their opinion and share their perspective,' Williams said. 'That's what our country is all about.' In April, Seneca Johnson, a Student Resource Center monitor at OPRF who has been on leave for the entire school year after filing a complaint with the federal Equal Opportunity Commission accusing administrators of discrimination, told the School Board that many top administrators, some of whom are Black, had discriminated against Black employees at the school. 'I want to speak on the disturbing reality of systematic injustice at Oak Park and River Forest High School,' Johnson said in a public comment at the April 10 school board meeting. 'For far too long the school has tolerated discrimination based on disability, age, sex and race, workplace retaliation, creating a hostile work environment that had disproportionately affected Black women and men.' The morning after the School Board meeting an OPRF spokeswoman said she couldn't comment about specific cases. 'We take them seriously and we do look into them,' said Karin Sullivan, the school's executive director of communications. 'It's a HR process and we follow our policies and procedures when it comes to investigations.' Two School Board members said that they want the school to look into what has been going on. 'It's obviously very concerning, it is something that needs to be looked into,' said Fred Arkin, the board's senior member. Arkin said that it was very unusual that a teacher would quit with just two weeks left in the school year and not finish the semester. Arkin was asked if he thought there was a problem with the workplace culture at OPRF. 'I think that has to be investigated,' Arkin said. 'Do I think there is a problem? I don't think there is a problem but I think we do need to dig into it and learn more about what's going on to determine if there is a problem.' But at a school with around 500 employees, 'It's difficult to make everybody 100% happy,' Arkin said. 'Obviously the two statements that we had from the two employees were very passionate, very emotional, but if there is something underlying that's a problem we've got to look at it,' Arkin said. New board member Josh Gertz said he has 'expressed concern toward the administration.' 'It's certainly something I intend to follow up on with the administration,' Gertz said. 'The other thing I would say is that it did seem that they had already begun a process of looking into the allegations and doing their due diligence which was welcomed, it was good to hear.'
Chicago Tribune
06-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Oak Park and River Forest High School assistant superintendent Laurie Fiorenza to resign
The administrator who oversees all things academic at Oak Park and River Forest High School is leaving the school at the end of this school year. Laurie Fiorenza, assistant superintendent for student learning, is resigning effective June 30. Fiorenza has been at OPRF for six years, the last four in the assistant superintendent position, after starting out as the director of student learning. It is not clear if Fiorenza has another job lined up and she has not responded to requests for comment. Fiorenza's undated resignation letter, obtained via a public records request, was brief and did not disclose her future plans. 'I am grateful for the opportunities I've had over the past six years to learn and grow as a leader alongside dedicated colleagues,' Fiorenza wrote. 'My time here has been formative, and I appreciate the experiences shaping my professional journey. 'As I transition to new opportunities, I appreciate my time in the district and the important work being done here. I will ensure a smooth transition and assist in any way I can to support the handoff of my responsibilities.' The morning after her resignation was accepted, Fiorenza sent an email to OPRF faculty and staff informing them that she was leaving and thanking them for their 'support, collaboration and shared commitment to students.' 'I'm grateful for the past six years and the chance to grow as a leader and to work alongside such dedicated and passionate colleagues has been truly meaningful,' Fiorenza wrote. District 200 Superintendent Greg Johnson confirmed that Fiorenza resigned but declined comment on the circumstances of the resignation. 'I think she did a lot of positive things for this district,' Johnson said. During Fiorenza's time at OPRF the school has received low marks in Five Essentials survey of teachers, which is mandated by the Illinois State Board of Education. In the most recent Five Essentials Survey, OPRF has received poor grades in instructional leadership, with a score of 16 on a 1 to 100 scale. OPRF was also classified as very weak in quality professional development with a score of 18 and received ratings of weak in innovation and program coherence. Fiorenza came to OPRF in 2019 after serving as principal of a middle school in Aurora. In her current role she is in charge of academics and curriculum. In OPRF's structure Principal Lynda Parker handles operations and school culture and does not play a major role in academic affairs. Before becoming the principal at the middle school in Aurora Fiorenza served as an assistant principal at a Batavia middle school. She began her career in Quincy working as a special education teacher, reading interventionist, director of an after school program and an assistant principal in the Quincy school district. The assistant superintendent position will be an important hire for OPRF. The school is completing the third year of detracking much of the freshman curriculum, meaning that it is getting near the time when meaningful evaluation of the Honors for All curriculum change can take place.
