Community Presentations & Tours 2007-2008

Superintendent Linda Yonke and Director of Physical Plant Services John Neiweem led residents on a Winnetka campus tour where they viewed facilities challenges. The tour followed the Facilities Study Open Community Meeting on
February 13, 2008.

Superintendent Linda Yonke leads a presentation about the facilities challenges during a community meeting and tour in winter 2008.  The community engagement process has included more than 40 presentations to community groups and over 20 Winnetka Campus tours.

Leading a community tour, John Neiweem, Director of Physical Plant Services, explains the challenges of the student cafeteria (built 1912), which include unusable/inflexible space, no basement, poor ventilation, and inadequate seating/serving space, among other deficiencies. The one-story cafeteria became land-locked when the four-story music/performing arts building was built along its west side in 1950.

Today, three different courses are taught in space originally designed for none of them. Shown are community members touring the electronics lab, which has been retrofitted into a classroom in the Tech-Arts Building (built 1931) for the teaching and learning of past decades.  Inadequate ventilation, poor climate control, limited storage for student projects, inefficient design, inadequate tabletop workspace, and limited space for larger tables and equipment are some of the inefficiencies.
     
     
Built in 1931 for teaching metallurgy, room 197 in the Tech Arts Building has been retrofitted as an art studio with multiple uses – Glass Art, Sculpture, and Advanced Placement (AP) Art. The space is divided by a partial wall, making it difficult to supervise students. The room is often too hot or cold, as the ceiling-mounted radiator is hard to regulate and frequently needs repair. Also, students can miss up to 10 minutes of a 40-minute class to seek the closest rest rooms in the North or Tower buildings, as no student rest rooms exist in the Tech Arts Building. Originally named the Manual Education Building, the Tech Arts Building has not been upgraded or renovated in its 77-year history.
Superintendent Linda Yonke (right) leads community members on a tour of the Winnetka campus. There are 70 more classrooms similar to the North Building’s room 367 (pictured) that were built in either 1934 or 1957 for the instructional delivery of the time. Today’s teaching methods are interactive, interdisciplinary and student-centered, which require larger, more flexible space. Modern classrooms average between 750 and 900 square feet, compared to the average Winnetka classroom size of 610 square feet. In the North Building, the average classroom size is 585 square feet.