Naperville CUSD 203 presents sweeping school-day redesigns, including high school block schedule proposal

At its Jan. 21, 2025 meeting, Naperville Community Unit School District 203 administrators presented multi-level proposals to “innovate the school experience,” outlining changes to early childhood programming, a 15-minute extension to elementary days, a flexible modified middle school schedule and a proposed high school block model aimed at increasing instructional depth and time for interventions.

District leaders said the proposals grew from work by level design teams and a districtwide design group formed in 2024. The teams reviewed local data, prior 2018 recommendations and stakeholder feedback and concluded current structures limit collaboration time for staff, reduce instructional minutes in some subjects (notably middle-school math) and produce substantial unstructured time for students.

Board members were shown data the administration said informed the recommendation: middle-school average math growth ranking at the 42nd percentile, a 15% chronic absenteeism rate and that roughly 30% of exclusionary discipline incidents occur during unstructured time. Presenters said the elementary day currently averages 6 hours, 15 minutes—shorter than peer districts—and the high school day is about 30 minutes longer than comparable suburban schools, with some bused students arriving 60–90 minutes early.

The proposals by level are: increase early childhood teacher planning and use Friday mornings for home visits and community outreach; add 15 minutes to the elementary day to create a daily homeroom/morning meeting and a protected intervention/extension window; implement a flexible modified block at middle schools that raises daily math minutes to 53–60 with an attached 20-minute “what I need” (WIN) intervention/enrichment period; and move high schools to a block schedule composed of four 85-minute block days plus a midweek “anchor day” with shorter periods so each course meets three times in a five-day week. The high school model was described as compacting the day by about 35 minutes (from 7 hours, 25 minutes to about 6 hours, 50 minutes) while preserving instructional minutes overall.

Design-team leaders said the block model aims to create larger instructional chunks for project-based and inquiry learning, reduce passing-time loss and provide daily, scheduled intervention windows. Presenters emphasized the plan is intended to increase opportunities for workplace learning, deeper interdisciplinary work, and teacher collaboration.

Student and staff engagement has been part of the process: district leaders reported more than 200 in-person Focus 203 participants and nearly 300 total attendees between sessions and online engagement; administration said 41 written comments were submitted at the most recent public Focus 203 sessions and that those responses and table summaries will be posted and included in the Feb. 3 presentation of recommended final models.

Board members pressed for further details on implementation supports, timelines and measures of success. Board member Amanda McMillan asked that questions be organized by level at future briefings to keep discussion focused. Board member Donna Wahnke asked for specifics the board would want before voting. Board member Charles Kush said he supported the rationale — “we need to prepare students for success in their future, not our past” — but asked for expected “growing pains” and mitigation strategies to be spelled out.

Public comment at the meeting included a student from Naperville Central who warned a block schedule could “impact fast paced courses like AP or honors courses” and argued that reduced in-class meeting time might push more learning to homework, limiting students’ access to teacher help and discouraging enrollment in advanced courses.

Administration said there is no action requested tonight: the presentation is the first of at least two on the topic. Next steps posted by staff include incorporating feedback from Focus 203 sessions and stakeholder groups, presenting recommended final models to the board on Feb. 3 (discussion without action), coordinating with the district’s four associations to assess bargaining implications, and building a communication and professional learning timeline to support staff and families should the board approve a final plan.

Board members repeatedly requested clarity on several outstanding items before any decision: the empirical evidence the district will track to evaluate outcomes, the scope and timing of professional development for teachers, how schedules will accommodate athletics and extracurriculars, transportation routing impacts, and specific plans for students in special education, English-language learners and advanced-placement courses. Administrators said those topics would be addressed in the Feb. 3 recommendation and in subsequent materials for bargaining and community communications.

District staff reiterated that the design teams’ proposals are intended to be responsive to data and stakeholder feedback and that a phased, communicative implementation — with metrics and milestones for year-one, year-two and year-three outcomes — will be part of any final recommendation to the board.