There is now an art room in the junior high and a much expanded office reception area to better serve the students, parents and staff. Anyone who would like to visit the junior high to see the many changes first hand is welcome to do so on any school day. Another long range facility need took a huge step toward becoming a reality with donations of significant proportion from Mr. Gerald Forsythe and the State of Illinois toward the addition of a performing arts center to be constructed on the west end of the new gym. This should be completed in the next year and will be a real positive addition to the entire community. The most important indication of our success is student achievement.
Test data continues to be excellent at all levels.
Our students also take five other tests which provide data indicating overall that the students are doing quite well. One of the tests, called the Illinois Workplace Skills Test, is taken by almost all seniors. The test assesses knowledge and skills in the areas of communication, adapting and coping with change, problem solving and critical thinking, work ethics, technological literacy and teamwork. Our students scores were significantly higher than the state mean and also exceeded the average scores of our seven county vocational region. This coming year our staff will continue its efforts to align our curriculum to the Illinois Standards for Learning.