DeKalb CUSD 428 celebrates the groundbreaking and naming of new elementary school

DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 officially celebrated the groundbreaking of its newest elementary school on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The $33.8 million 70,000-square foot project is slated to open in August 2025. The building will serve approximately 450-500 students in grades kindergarten through five and include dedicated spaces for staff to hold restorative conversations, spaces designed specifically to accommodate services for students with special needs, a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) classroom, dedicated art and music classrooms, outdoor learning, and innovation pods (open collaborative group learning space).

The groundbreaking ceremony also includes announcing the name of the new building. Members of the community were encouraged and invited to submit names for consideration. More than 60 names were put forth, with a committee narrowing the selection down to the top 10 names, followed by a Community Conversations meeting where attendees could choose and speak about their favorite choices. The naming committee narrowed submissions down further based on community input and came to a consensus on their top choice to present to the Board of Education for consideration. Long-time DeKalb resident, educator, and pastor Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell received several nominations. He graciously accepted the District’s invitation to be the namesake of the new school. The Board will officially vote to approve the school’s name at its April 16, 2024, meeting.

“This is a tremendous step forward for our students and families who live in DeKalb’s north corridor and for our community as a whole,” stated Superintendent Minerva Garcia-Sanchez, Ed.D. “More than 32 percent of the District’s elementary students live in this area, yet they must be bused to schools throughout the district.” Dr. Garcia-Sanchez added, “Families here have been asking for decades to be heard about their desire to have a neighborhood school that helps remove barriers to learning, increases the ability of families to be more present in their children’s school and activities, and paves the way for a more successful educational experience overall. The Dr. Leroy A. Mitchell Elementary School promises to live up to its namesake and be a stellar example of a community school where teaching and learning set the stage for a lifetime of learning and success.”

Background Information:

The DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 Board of Education approved moving forward with the acquisition of the NIU School of Nursing Building, 1240 Normal Road, DeKalb at the March 7, 2023 board meeting. The District proceeded with a lease-to-purchase agreement for $1.86 million and began initial design plans for an elementary school expansion option to renovate and expand the existing building to create a three-section elementary school with an anticipated opening date for the 2025-2026 school year.

Past Board of Education President Samantha McDavid said, “The opportunity to consider acquiring the nursing building from NIU came at a pivotal time for the District and allowed us increased flexibility to be more proactive and responsive to the needs of families in an area where we knew there were barriers to learning,”

“The District and our community partners have dedicated significant time and attention to this effort to present a fiscally responsible and timely solution that, first and foremost, focuses on serving the needs of our children and families,” said Cindy Carpenter, former co-director of business and finance for the District. “The fact that we can incorporate the project costs within the district’s budget without requesting additional dollars from our taxpayers was also critically important,” said Carpenter.

The impact on all elementary schools with the addition of the new three-section building will be a reduction in classroom sizes from 28 to 25 students. This is a priority supported by the Board of Education from the Class Size Committee recommendation in May 2021 to “provide sufficient staff to lower the threshold from 28 to 25 students for grades K-5 and 35 to 30 students for Grades 6-12 when facilities and budgets allow.” Existing school boundaries will be adjusted prior to the opening of the new school based on the current demographic and population data at that time.