Ongoing construction at Tilton Elementary School is on schedule as the district works to complete a $14.237 million renovation and expansion project that began this summer and will be completed in phases through summer 2026.

During a presentation from Tilton Elementary School Principal Ben Schwartz on Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Rochelle Elementary School Board learned the project’s substantial completion is slated for July 29. A roof was recently put on to allow for interior work over the winter, he said.

The district is tying in needed health life safety work with recommended security enhancements and staff needs and wants, namely alleviating issues caused by limited space in the building. The district’s plans include a face-lift of the existing building and additional classroom, multi-purpose room, gym, library and music room space, ADA accessibility, technology and climate control.

Schwartz also updated the board on academic progress at Tilton School. Schwartz is in his first year as principal at the school, is a newcomer to the district and thanked the community and district for a “wonderful start to the year”.

Tilton School’s improvement goals for the year are to reduce disciplinary referrals by 5% and increase academic STAR testing results by 5%. STAR testing results have not come back yet. Disciplinary referrals are down 26%, Schwartz said.

“That’s a huge number compared to last year,” Schwartz said. “When referrals go down, I get to be in classrooms and teachers are dealing with less behavioral problems. I think our teachers are doing a wonderful job with that.”

Tilton School has task forces for social emotional learning and academic readiness aimed at achieving school improvement goals. Positive student referrals are up 15% from last year.

Central

Central Elementary School Principal Justin Adolph presented an update during the meeting on progress at his school. Just over 50% of Central School students are in the district’s dual language program.

Adolph said the school’s improvement goal is to see academic achievement increase by 5%. Recent STAR testing results showed more students as proficient in every category.

“We’re very pleased with that,” Adolph said. “We had a huge jump in our third grade math. Teachers attributed it to a big focus on fluency, both in reading and math. That seems to have paid some dividends.”

The school has also focused on improving student behavior, which Adolph called “a struggle.” He said behavioral referral data is “way up” and remains an area of focus.

Central School has many new staff members this year, with non-tenured staff numbers matching tenured numbers. So far this year, the school has seen 100 positive referrals of students sent to parents, compared to 27 last year.

Rochelle Middle School

Rochelle Middle School Principal Katie Smith also presented an update about her school. Like Tilton School, RMS is working to grow math and English language arts testing scores by 5%, with an emphasis on student engagement.

RMS is preparing to send its first class of dual language program students to Rochelle Township High School next year. It is anticipated that 20 of 38 students will start at the Spanish IV level as freshmen.

The school is also working to reduce defiance and noncompliance behavior referrals by 5%.

“Currently we’re at a 2% decrease in overall referrals and a 6% increase in defiance and noncompliance,” Smith said. “Middle school is a really tough age and we continue to try to work with our students and identify strategies that are going to work with those specific behaviors and help support all of our students in that realm.”

Personnel

The board unanimously approved personnel changes, including the certificated employment of Ireland Bradford (second grade teacher at Central, 2026-2027 school year) and Jeff Mickey (math interventionist, RMS, starting January 2026), the support staff resignation of Rachel Lohmeier (lunch supervisor, Lincoln Elementary School) and employment of Michael DePriester (substitute district custodian) and Alex Morse (second shift custodian, Tilton) and the extracurricular employment of Adaleiah Villalobos (seventh grade girls track coach).

Calendar

The board unanimously approved its 2026-2027 district calendar. The calendar saw no major changes from 2025-2026 and the first day of the 2026-2027 school year for students will be Aug. 13, 2026.