Deerfield Public Schools District 109 is moving forward with its first school build since perhaps the late 1960s, with the Deerfield Plan Commission holding a public hearing on a new Walden Elementary School earlier this month.
The new school is planned to begin operation in 2028 on the same site as the current Walden Elementary School. The old building will then act as a temporary site for Kipling Elementary School as it undergoes a gut renovation before being demolished.
In total, four Deerfield schools — Walden, Wilmot, Kipling and South Park elementary schools — will be either replaced or heavily rehabilitated, part of a massive multi-million-dollar rehab effort made possible through a successful $90 million referendum.
According to the school district, that $90 million will be about 40% of the total project costs, with the rest to be covered by non-referendum district dollars.
Planning documents show the new Walden building will be two stories tall, with 88,000 square feet in total. It will be located just north of the existing school. It will include 26 classrooms, an art room, two music rooms, a gymnasium, a multi-purpose room, a cafeteria with a stage, a library, a teacher’s lounge, administrative offices, resource rooms and bathrooms.
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Documents described four phases for the project, with site preparation to begin either late winter or spring 2027. The existing Walden school will remain open and operational throughout construction.
After the new Walden is completed, Kipling Elementary School will operate out of the old Walden building during the 2028-29 school year while its own renovation and addition work is completed.
Both the Walden and Kipling schools will operate on the Walden campus during the gut rehab and addition work at Kipling, and afterwards, the old Walden building will be demolished.
Cathy Kedjidjian, chief communications officer with D109, said the Plan Commission public hearing will continue on Aug. 13, given the hundreds of pages of material the commission has to go through.
It’s been many years since a school project of this scale has come before the commission — the district hasn’t built a new school since Caruso Middle School in the ’60s — and it was “a lot for them to digest.”
The district held a “good neighbor” open house in May with area residents to get feedback, she said, leading to modifications to site designs around landscaping and the building’s step back.
“We’ve listened to neighbors,” Kedjidjian said. “It’s natural for things to change.”
The plans presented Thursday included a geothermal heating and cooling system, which would utilize the more stable temperature of the Earth. It’s something the district “hoped could happen” during initial planning, Kedjidjian said, but it hadn’t been sure “it could be possible.”
It won’t be the first school in Lake County to feature the green technology. Ravinia Elementary School, in the North Shore School District 112, had a geothermal HVAC system installed during its $40 million gut rehab.
Then-superintendent Michael Lubelfeld called the system a “milestone” for the district, saying it demonstrates its commitment to “innovation and sustainability.”
Construction work is currently underway at Caruso and Shepherd middle schools, giving a “great preview” of what is to come for the four elementary schools.
Plans for Wilmot Elementary School, which is also getting a new building, will go before the Plan Commission in late September. Kedjidjian said the district has a related open house informational event planned for Aug. 5.