Dear Parents, Guardians, and Community Stakeholders:

As your superintendent it is with great pride that I provide you with an exciting update on the many facility improvements that we began this summer. The Board of Education, under the leadership of President, Sondra McClendon, initiated a long overdue Master Facility Improvement Plan. With the help of my administrative team, we assessed our facilities needs and began to prioritize projects that will ensure equitable learning environments for all our students. As a result, we chose Energy Systems Group (ESG) as our partner to design, engineer, and manage the implementation of facility improvements throughout our district. A safe and healthy learning environment is always top of mind, therefore, you will continue to see improvements throughout this school year and years to come. Those upgrades will be seen in our hallways, in our classrooms, and throughout all of our schools and district facilities. Some of the improvements that we have begun include but are not limited to:

▪ Upgrading all HVAC systems to ensure proper heating and cooling in each school
▪ Replacing the lighting in each school to maximize the learning environment
▪ Removal of carpeting and replacing original flooring
▪ Painting the hallways of each school with the school colors, etc.

This is only the beginning! Many of our buildings have not experienced improvements and upgrades in over 30 years. It takes time to create the optimal learning environment; one that our children deserve. I thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we journey through this process. Stay tuned for future updates and please visit the website to follow and learn more about our progress. In closing, I recently coined the phrase #One88. This motto symbolizes unity across all of our schools. I have high expectations for our entire school district. This is encapsulated in my 3E platform. In collaboration, I want to ensure excellence in our schools, improve the equity of our school community, and engage stakeholders across all the communities we serve. On behalf of the Board of Education, my administrative team, and the entire Bellwood School District 88 family, we are committed to working in partnership with parents and the community to ensure high quality educational experiences for our scholars.

With SD88 Pride,

Victoria Hansen, Ph.D.
Superintendent