Board Highlights
Business Meeting: Aug. 13, 2024
Business Meeting: Feb. 11, 2025
This newsletter features highlights from District 97 Board of Education meetings.
Click here to access full meeting agendas and packets. Recordings of our meetings are also available on our YouTube page. For more about our board, visit www.op97.org/boe.
Update on the 2025-26 School Calendar
During the Feb. 11 meeting, the draft 2025-26 school calendar was presented by Dr. Natacia Campbell Tominov, assistant superintendent for human resources and equity. We anticipate bringing a final version to the board for approval on Feb. 25. Once approved, we will share the final calendar with staff and families.
District 97 previously shared the anticipated key dates:
- Middle School Connection: Week of Aug. 11, 2025 (optional for rising sixth-grade students)
- Classes Begin for Students: Week of Aug. 18, 2025
- Winter Break: Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, through Friday, Jan. 2, 2026
- Spring Break: Monday, March 30, 2026, through Friday, April 3, 2026
- Last Day of Classes: TBD—between May 30, 2026, and June 6, 2026
Click here to view the Feb. 11 presentation and discussion.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we finalize this process!
Redesigning D97 Middle Schools: Finalizing the Master Schedule
Transformation Goal 2: We Design for All
Subgoal 2B: Middle School Redesign
As part of this work, our team has been developing options for a new master schedule, guided by community input and best practices from the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE), the district’s equity policy, and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) requirements. After careful analysis, the team has identified a preferred schedule and is in the process of conducting instructional viability checks before finalizing plans.
On Feb. 11, the team provided more details about this process and what staff, students and families can expect in the months ahead.
Listening to Voices of our School Community
Throughout the redesign process, the district has actively engaged staff, students, and families to identify essential elements for the new schedule.
Priorities emerging from these conversations include exploring enhancements to the day-to-day student experience, such as modifying class lengths and structure to boost engagement, considering options for a “soft start” to mornings, and designing a more structured and supportive lunch experience. Regarding instructional framework and educational pathways, priorities include ensuring consistency and alignment across middle schools, expanding opportunities to meet diverse student needs, and fostering smoother transitions between grade levels.
Additionally, feedback from the school community will play a key role in reevaluating and redefining the purpose of SOAR and advisory periods.
Navigating the Complexities of Scheduling
Designing a middle school schedule requires balancing numerous logistical considerations, including:
- Allocating time effectively to support diverse learning needs
- Ensuring appropriate class offerings, staffing, and teacher assignments
- Complying with state and federal mandates
- Maximizing available space and meeting the needs of special populations
These factors must be integrated with district priorities and community feedback to ensure a schedule that supports all students equitably.
Process and Next Steps
The Middle School Redesign Team is excited to move forward with the next steps in this process, ensuring a smooth transition and successful implementation of the new schedule.
February-March: Finalizing the schedule, conducting instructional viability checks, and sharing updates with students, staff, families, and the Board of Education.
March-May: Preparing for implementation, including course selection, scheduling, and staff planning.
May-August: Communicating with students and families, supporting transitions, and launching the new schedule.
2025-26 School Year: Implementing the schedule, gathering feedback, and making adjustments as needed to improve student learning experiences.
Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate: Focusing on Out-of-School Time
Transformation Goal 4: We Learn Everywhere
Subgoal 4A: Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate
In June 2024, District 97 presented its collective vision for an Oak Park 8th grade graduate, which emphasizes the importance of equipping students with the skills, knowledge, and experiences necessary for future success.
During the Feb. 11 meeting, District 97 Superintendent Ushma Shah and Chief Learning Innovation Officer Eboney Lofton highlighted how out-of-school learning opportunities contribute to bringing this vision to life.
The presentation focused on three key areas:
1) Our Portrait Story
As a refresher, the Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate is the community’s collective vision for student success in college, career, and beyond. The vision is rooted in core competencies tied to established learning standards.
The Portrait journey began through a process of community visioning throughout the 2023-24 school year, prioritizing voices of affinity groups to ensure equitable representation. Through these robust engagement efforts, a competency-based Portrait was born, reflecting the vision and values of the Oak Park community.
In the 2024-25 school year, our focus has been on aligning voices and visions to learning standards to ensure academic and extracurricular opportunities are tailored to support student growth. As part of this work, we have introduced a new Teacher Leader Role to help guide and design Portrait-aligned learning experiences, support community engagement efforts, and promote continued professional learning around the eight Portrait dimensions.
To connect the Portrait vision in a tangible, outreach-focused way, the team is collaborating with Teacher Leaders to establish meaningful partnerships within the community. By working with partners such as the Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park Education Foundation, and Park District of Oak Park, we are connecting youth development efforts to our Portrait and fostering a shared understanding of youth success within the community. For example, in current and upcoming community program guides, you'll see Portrait icons that correspond with opportunities for students!
3) Next Steps and Future Work
Moving forward, we are excited to dig into our "innovation incubator" work to explore new opportunities for providing students with real-world learning experiences, grounded in student-led efforts. This work focuses on future implementation and includes the possible development of a Portrait Youth Advisory Council to empower student voices in this process.
We are inspired by the momentum of the Portrait of an 8th Grade Graduate initiative, and we are excited about our progress. Thank you for your ongoing support as we work together to create meaningful and equitable learning experiences for all students!
To view the full update, click the following links: Recording | Slides
Looking Ahead
Next Board Meeting
The District 97 Board of Education will hold its next regularly scheduled board meeting Tuesday, February 25, 2025.
Meeting agendas, recordings and materials can be found on our new Diligent platform: https://op97.diligent.community/Portal/
Upcoming Professional Development
On Monday, March 3, we will hold an all-staff Institute Day to build upon the equity-focused work from our January 2025 Institute Day. Our collaboration with the National Equity Project will help shape the discussions. For more details on the proposed contract with the National Equity Project, please refer to the Jan. 28 Board Highlights.
