Palos 118 Proudly Welcomes Early Learners to New Classrooms

It was a cold, icy, and dreary Tuesday morning as Palos 118 early learners entered their new facility at Palos West Elementary school after months of construction. But once setting foot inside the bright, spacious area, little eyes gazed up and around with smiles of excitement and cheer.

The Palos 118 Early Learning addition is the result of a historic bond referendum, the first to be passed in 50 years in October 2016 with the support of the Palos community.

Palos 118 Superintendent Dr. Anthony Scarsella said the completion of the Early Learning addition is one of the highlights of his tenure as superintendent. “For the first time, our youngest most vulnerable students have the opportunity to thrive in learning environments designed specifically to meet their needs. The vision of our school district is All Students Reaching Their Full Potential. This addition is a bold step forward in turning that vision into reality,” said Dr. Scarsella.

The new addition features two early childhood classrooms, two pre-k classrooms, and four kindergarten classrooms; all self-contained. The addition also boasts a spacious common open area for gross motor skills, a speech room, offices, and a storage area.

The endeavor began two years ago in an effort to evaluate the needs of Palos 118’s early learners. A working group of teachers, other staff, and an early childhood educator from Lewis University studied the quality of the pre-k/early childhood learning environment in the district, finding them deficient. Enrollment for young, at risk students has grown over the last 12 years from 14 early childhood and 20 pre-K students in 2005 to 25 EC and 56 pre-K students in 2016.

High quality early learning programs are needed to make good use of time for instructional interaction. Teachers also indicated valuable instructional time was lost because their classroom spaces were not designed to meet the needs of 3-5 year-olds; a great deal of teaching time was wasted taking young students to the bathrooms, and long walks down the halls.

“The School Board is proud to announce the project was completed on time and on budget,” said School Board President MariJo Calacci. “The addition not only provides an excellent learning environment for our earliest learners but also improves the safety and efficiency of our driveways and parking lots.”

With the support of the community, District 118 was able to pass the referendum to make the early learning facility a reality. Probably most appealing to taxpayers was the referendum did not increase or decrease property taxes. The $6.5 million in new building bonds replaced old bonds that were paid off in December 2016.

Dr. Scarsella expressed his gratitude to the Palos 118 community for providing the funding necessary to complete this project and the parents, teachers, administrators and staff for their hard work. “I also want to thank our school board for its continued focus on providing our students a world class education. This is a proud achievement for our entire school community,” said Dr. Scarsella.

The young students affectionately call their gross motor play area their “new gym.” The Palos community is welcome to visit the addition and see all of the amenities for themselves at the official Open House set to take place May 15 at 6 p.m. at Palos West.