NT_012419

8 | January 24, 2019 | The Northbrook tower community
northbrooktower.com
Glenbrook D225 Board of education
Lady and Lucy
Judy Jarke, of Northbrook
Meet Lady, 7 years old, and
Lucy, 7 months old, this
week’s Pets of the Week.
Both are adopted and have
recently moved to Northbrook
from Colorado. Their
favorite pastime is chewing
on each other when not
chasing tennis balls. They’ve also been enjoying
going to the beach. In a pinch, a walk around the
neighborhood will do just fine. They hope to make
many new friends in the coming weeks, at the
Northbrook dog park!
PLEASE HELP! The Tower needs Pet of the Week submissions!
To see your pet featured as Pet of the Week, send
photos and stories to Martin at martin@northbrooktower.
com or at 60 Revere Drive, Suite 888, Northbrook.
17-member committee to weigh
school calendar survey findings
Neil Milbert
Freelance Reporter
Hanover Research has
released the extensive
findings of its Glenbrook
High School District 225
school calendar survey
and Superintendent Dr.
Mike Riggle discussed
them at length at the board
of education’s Monday,
Jan. 14 meeting.
“What do we do with it
now that we have it?” Dr.
Riggle asked. “These calendar
guidelines only set
a framework.”
In the opinion of Board
President Skip Shein, “It’s
kind of mind-numbing
trying to piece it together.”
Answering his own
question, Riggle said the
next step is to put together
a 17-member committee
made up of two Glenbrook
North and two Glenbrook
South students, four parents
of students, two
teachers from each of the
schools and five members
of the administration “to
take a close look at the
survey and see if there is
anything undervalued or
missed.”
“We’re not rushing to
do anything at this stage
of the game,” he emphasized.
There were 7,707 stakeholders
who participated
in the email survey —
2,479 students at the high
schools, 606 teachers
and staff members, 2,120
GBS and GBN parents
and 2,502 parents of students
at feeder grammar
schools.
They were presented
two options:
1, Adopt the college
calendar and have the
school year begin in early
to mid-August, holding
first-semester exams before
winter break and ending
the year in late May
2, Or perpetuate the
traditional calendar that
calls for school to start in
late August, with first-semester
exams after winter
break and the end of the
school year in early June.
Hanover Research recommended
District 225
“should consider adopting
the Option 1 calendar.”
“The survey results indicate
that more than half
of all stakeholders prefer
to have final exams taken
prior to winter break,”
the research firm’s report
states. “Students prefer
the Option 1 calendar, and
while school staff slightly
prefer the Option 2 calendar,
they also indicate
that the Option 1 schedule
would not adversely
impact their classroom
and curriculum planning.
Most parents also indicate
that the Option 1 schedule
would not adversely affect
family vacation planning
and other activities.”
Other recommendations
were that District
225 “should secure buyin
from parents of feeder-school
students” if it
adopts the Option 1 calendar
and “should consider
offering resources and
supports that help students
manage the stressors that
they face in school.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Stakeholders who participated in the email survey
Total participants: 7,707
GBN, GBS students who participated: 2,479
Teachers and staff members: 606
Glenbrook parents: 2,120
Parents of students at feeder grammar schools:
2,502
Of the respondents, 76
percent favored the Option
1 schedule because
first-semester exams
would be held before the
winter break, but only 18
percent liked the Option 1
start date in early to mid-
August.
Of the feeder-school
parents, 57 percent of the
parents favored Option 2.
“People who opted for
Option 1 said very clearly
the reason they favored it
was the date of the exams,
and people who opted for
Option 2 favored it was
because of the start time
in late August,” Riggle
said.
The fact that there is a
significant disparity in the
overwhelming approval
for the earlier semester
exams in Option 1 and
a huge unfavorable response
to the early school
year start time in this option
poses a dilemma for
District 225 officials.
Board members Dr. Sonia
Kim and Karen Hanley
suggested a solution: a
shorter first semester.
“There’s nothing in the
state rules that require balanced
semesters,” Riggle
said. “The only requirement
is 176 student days
and we do 178.”
Riggle told the board
his concern with the unbalanced
schedule is if
the days are too far off.
The current schedule has
89 days in each semester.
Riggle said he believes 84
in the first and 92 or 93 in
the second could potentially
work.
“We’re going to communicate
early and often
with the feeder districts,”
Riggle said.
Riggle noted Township
High School District
113 in Highland Park and
Deerfield introduced the
unbalanced schedule this
year and “it is very popular,”
while Lake Forest
and Stevenson also have
instituted unbalanced semesters.
“At Loyola Academy
60 percent to 70 percent
of the courses are yearlong,”
he added, “and you
(teachers) can break up
finals whenever you like.”
Dr. Riggle reiterated
that there is no sense
of urgency because the
2019-20 calendar already
has been established, giving
the 17-member committee
ample time to study
the Hanover calendar survey
findings and submit a
report to the board for discussion.