It’s not often that the state superintendent and one from a local school district – both in business suits and well-heeled shoes – take a whirl on the treadmill as part of commending a school district’s capital and curriculum progress.
But state Superintendent Tony Sanders did just that Friday with Barrington School District 220 Superintendent Craig Winkelman when Sanders visited a trio of SD220 schools, checking out the new digs and offerings purchased with funds from a recent successful $147 million referendum.
“I would love to see every district in the state be able to match and mirror the things that are being put in place here in Barrington,” Sanders, who just last school year was superintendent of nearby Elgin School District U-46, told Pioneer Press in an interview during the tour.
Barrington area voters approved the SD220 referendum in the March 2020 election, allowing the school district to pay for additions, new construction and other enhancements – including in security – at several school buildings.
The state superintendent’s visit came as the district was riding a wave of good news. The same week of his visit, Arnett C. Lines Elementary School – one of the eight K to 5 schools in SD220 – was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. It was also homecoming week for Barrington High School, which earlier this month was named one of the best high schools across the country in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
And, on top of it all, District 220 is in the midst of celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Sanders started his visit to the district Friday morning at Lines where he was taken inside the school’s new STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), art and sensory rooms. Then, it was on to Barrington Middle School- Station Campus. As part of the referendum passage, an addition was built that moved classrooms out of mobile units and into the school building.
The new construction includes flexible learning spaces that district officials say are unique from the traditional classroom.
“I think that the more that we can put students in the center of their learning, the better that their outcomes are going to be,” Winkelman told Pioneer Press.
The tour concluded at Barrington High School, where school spirit was on display due to homecoming and students helped show off a literal “GEM” of a space. With a delegation that included the school board president, BHS principal, Winkelman and others, Sanders got up close views of the high school’s new culinary arts lab, the new athletic and physical education wing that includes several options for fitness and PE classes, and the new dedicated Student Services Area. The latter includes the school’s health, counseling, wellness, attendance and deans offices.
The GEM – or grow, excel, magnify – area is a flexible learning space where a new seniors-only program is being tested. All of the new spaces are designed, the principal said, to allow for flexibility and adaptability.
“As things change we can change with them and meet the needs of our students,” BHS Principal Steve McWilliams told Pioneer Press.
Sanders also got a look at new security areas and equipment installed in the high school. Also, he and Winkelman, both new this academic year to their respective jobs, had a brief chat as the state superintendent tried out one of the treadmills in the BHS fitness area.
“Every student in the state of Illinois deserves to have a school like Barrington High School they could attend. It’s really amazing what’s happening in this school,” said Sanders, who was tapped in January to be the state schools chief.
In addition to the physical additions and enhancements, Sanders praised what he called flexibilities incorporated into students’ school days to “meet their individual needs.” He also pointed to – and lauded – state legislation that helped change the way school districts get state funding, which he said could foster more of what Barrington has created.
“I think the opportunities that our school district provides for our students are second to none and we continue to look for ways to make enhancements to even enhance the learning,” said Winkelman, who started as of May 1 as SD220 superintendent. “We don’t rest on our laurels.”
SD220 officials have made a point to publicly outline, explain and update capital projects being paid for with the dollars the referendum afforded. Officials detail on the Build 220 website the work done over the past few years and what is remaining to do. There are more capital projects for BHS, and Barbara Rose and North Barrington elementary schools before the suite of additions, renovations and enhancements wraps up. A fine arts center is also planned for the high school, but that would not be funded with money resulting from the referendum, officials explained.
“I think it’s a great win to see the results of this referendum, and to see the impact, not only on instruction, but safety and security for our students as well; both very key things,” Sanders told Pioneer Press.
He explained that just before he left Elgin School District U-46 to take the state superintendent job, that district had its fingers crossed for passage of a $169 million referendum. It went on to be “overwhelmingly” approved, he said.
“The blessing with a referendum is local taxpayers get the final decision on whether or not an investment should be made in the schools,” said Sanders.
Barrington School District 220 enrolls about 8,100 students in pre-K to 12th grade, across 12 schools. The district has eight K to 5 and two middle schools, also one pre-K and a lone high school.
“In the long run, the community’s made a great investment in our buildings … investment in our students,” McWilliams said about referendum-afforded improvements at BHS. “In the past, I think we’ve made physical spaces that are very traditional. The spaces that we’ve done here are really thoughtful of ‘how can we support students in a different way in the future?'”
While SD220 officials tout the successful March 2020 referendum, that one marked the second time. In April 2019, voters rejected a $185 million bond referendum.
“There is no better investment in our future than the students that we serve everyday,” Sanders said about community support for school financial referendums. “If we don’t meet [kids’ needs] now, we’re going to be paying for it later. … Investing now is the right investment.”