From the Superintendent’s Desk: What do we do all summer?

Published in the Deerfield Review

Michael Lubelfeld | Superintendent of DPS 109
June 27 11:19 a.m.

“What do you do all summer?” This is a question that parents and community members frequently ask school leaders. In District 109, as in many school districts, administrators work all year ensuring that all loose ends are closed to the last school year and that everyone and everything is ready to start the next year. Much of the work we do is behind the scenes: teacher and administrator training, planning, budget analysis, and completing state and federal reports. We know that parent and community questions don’t stop in the summer, so we keep the lines of communication open all year. All of our work is mission centered to provide learning environments and supports so that all children learn and succeed.

In District 109 this summer, a lot of the work we are doing is very visible, centering around maintenance, cleaning, safety, and very exciting construction. From safety and security enhancements, to energy efficiency work, to power supplies, to classroom construction, to exterior construction, to air quality work, we are improving our buildings to create better environments for teaching and learning. Here is an abbreviated breakdown of the projects at each school:

Caruso Middle School: Roof and tile work as well as learning space transformations, including the construction of STEM and communication media arts (CMA) labs.

Shepard Middle School: Transforming 50-year-old science classrooms into modern science laboratories, as well as STEM/CMA lab construction.

Walden/Kipling Elementary Schools: Completing air quality and air conditioning work so that all learning spaces throughout the District will be fully air conditioned.

All Schools: Generators installed to replace battery back-up systems, as well as emergency illumination. “Green” efforts, including installation of automated lighting controls and initial LED lighting work and other environmental enhancements.

It takes a great deal of talent to plan, manage and complete this amount and level of work. We are proud that our Department of Buildings & Grounds hires extremely hard working seasonal workers each summer — about 80 percent of whom are former District 109 students! Our fearless leader of Buildings & Grounds, Steve Kenesie, is a mentor, guide, inspiration, model and supervisor of these essential personnel who help with myriad tasks and projects both large scale and small scale. Summer work is quite intense, it takes more than “work,” it’s really also a story about motivation, heart and desire.

We are proud to complete all of this work with existing funds through many years of cost-cutting, operations management and fiscally responsible leadership of the Board of Education and the administration (past and present). The District’s mission is to engage, inspire, and empower all students, and with these significant improvements in life safety, health and wellness, instruction and facility maintenance, we using every resource available – including community support – to achieve our mission and to increase student learning.

Of course, at the end of the day (or in our case summer) we remember why we do all that we do – for the students!