ROCHELLE — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Rochelle Elementary School District Board of Education unanimously approved a Stepping Stones Preschool fiscal year 2026 transition plan that will see it expand the district's preschool offerings and utilize the currently-vacant May Elementary School building for that purpose.

Stepping Stones Preschool, located inside Lincoln Elementary School, currently serves 180 students and has a waiting list of about 40 kids. The district has a desire to serve students on the waiting list and recently received a preschool-for-all grant for two years (fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026) that made it consider expanding its offerings. 

May School at 1033 N. 2nd St. was closed by the school board before the 2021-2022 school year as the district shifted to an attendance center model due to declining enrollment and an increase in the district’s dual language program, which was previously only offered at Lincoln and Central Elementary Schools. The district was facing a half-full May School before the decision was made.

The district has held meetings with stakeholders to determine what would be feasible and what would be required for preschool operations at May School. Increased bathroom, playground, furniture, parking, safety and staffing needs are among those that will have to be met for that to take place.

There are currently six preschool classrooms at Stepping Stones Preschool and a seventh would be located at May School.

"Historically we've had somewhere in between 20-45 kids on the waiting list," Superintendent Jason Harper said. "Expansion means adding a seventh class to our program. It's also expansion in having another certified staff member to cover the mandated early childhood screeners, play-based assessments and IEP needs and documentation. It's also expansion with having staff starting to engage with parents of children that are not yet three years old. It's potentially expanding in the direction of birth to three services. We will have more robust services for our students. The big change for our public and our staff members is to have enough space, we would look to move the program to May School."

Harper said the grant program is all funded by state dollars, which would make it unaffected by current federal cuts to education.

Dual language

The board heard an update on the district's dual language immersion program from District  Language Services Director Celeste Canfield and Language & Culture Coordinator Kim Lumzy.

The dual language program is in its eighth year and it is currently assessing its instruction. Canfield said the program began with the 2017-2018 school year. Dual language is now spread out through each district building.

"We'll continue to expand into Rochelle Middle School with our second section coming up in 2026-2027 with the hopes of having our first graduating class of dual language students from Rochelle Township High School in May 2030,” Canfield said. 

There are about 50 dual language students each in fifth, sixth and seventh grades. There are 75-100 dual language students each at other grade levels. Prekindergarten currently has around 60 dual language students.

"The program is still growing, evolving and changing," Lumzy said. "We appreciate your support and patience with us as we continue to work hard to make this the best program we can offer to our community."

Dornink

The board and those in attendance at the meeting held a moment of silence in honor of Rick Dornink, a longtime district employee that passed away Feb. 17 at the age of 62 after a sudden illness.

Harper said Dornink had over 20 years of service at the district in multiple roles including administration, teacher, athletic director and coach.

"He was an all-around great guy that had a positive impact on our students, district and community," Harper said.

Farewell

Harper wished Board President Trisha Vaughn and Board Member Dave Casey well as they will soon end their terms and won't be seeking reelection on April 1.

Casey has served on the board for 16 years, many of those years as board president.  Vaughn has been on the board for 12 years.

"I wanted to thank you for your service to the district, our staff, our students and our community as a whole," Harper said. "We thank you for your leadership and appreciate both of you."

Vaughn is seeking a seat on the Rochelle Township High School District Board of Education in the April 1 election.

Personnel

The board unanimously approved yearly personnel changes, including the resignations of Alva Valle (dual art at RMS) and Sam Volkert (sixth grade science, RMS) for the end of the school year. Numerous yearly employment renewals were approved Tuesday for first, second, third, fourth and non certified teachers.

EOY

Harper provided details on the end of the 2024-2025 school year following some unscheduled days off school that have taken place. The eighth grade graduation ceremony will take place Friday, May 23. The district's last day with students will be May 27 and its last day with staff will be May 28.