New Trier Board of Education Briefs 9/22/26

Board Briefs News from the 9/22/26 Board of Education Meeting New Trier Class of 2026 Profile Report New Trier’s strategic goal to expand students’ access and opportunity to advanced coursework continues to be reflected in the trends for each graduating class, with more students in the Class of 2026 taking at least one high honors course than ever before. Assistant Superintendent Chimille Tillery said that was one of many interesting data points in the Class of 2026 profile, an annual report that details course-taking patterns, college application trends, and college choices for New Trier’s most recent graduates. The profile helps illustrate the motto of New Trier’s Post-High School Counseling Department that “college is a match to be made, not a prize to be won,” with New Trier students who took courses at all levels finding success in matriculating to a variety of higher education institutions across the country. New Trier offers a flexible level system so students can find courses that match their interests, development, and learning style. Courses are offered at Level 2 (college preparatory), Levels 3 and 9 (honors), and Level 4 (high honors and AP). The graduating class profile report began in part to dispel some misconceptions about what student success looks like at New Trier, including the myth that students generally take classes in one level track. The report has consistently shown that the vast majority of students - 92.5% in the Class of 2026 - take core academic courses at a mix of levels. In fact, nearly 22 percent of 2026 graduates took classes at all three levels (2, 3, and 4). Tillery said the percentage of students taking higher level courses continues to increase. More than 77% of students in the Class of 2026 took at least one Level 4 class, a new high, and more than 74% of students took at least one AP course. In the past several years, New Trier has made curricular changes to expand access to honors and high honors courses. Post-High School Counseling Department Chair Jill Cervantes noted that national college admissions trends continue to show an increase in applications overall. According to the Common Application, in the 2025-2026 application season, 1.527 million unique applicants filed 10.8 million applications, 6% and 2% increases respectively. The Post-High School Counseling Department helps students in all steps of the application process, from making a personalized list to writing essays and seeking letters of recommendation. Class of 2026 Profile Report Experiential Learning in Action: IGSS Civil Rights Field Trip Students from New Trier’s Integrated Global Studies School (IGSS) visited sites in the South significant to the country’s Civil Rights Movement this April, a profound educational experience they said could not have been recreated in a classroom. IGSS students and faculty told the Board about their experience, which included stops in Memphis, Tennessee, and Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery, Alabama. The IGSS program is an experiential, interdisciplinary school-within-a-school for juniors and seniors interested in helping direct their own education. Students meet for three consecutive class blocks and explore topics deeply, centering on inquiry, critical thinking, multiple perspectives, and learning beyond the classroom. They receive credit in English, social studies, and art. The program, envisioned under the 2003 strategic plan, is entering its 18th year. The trip was part of one of IGSS’ core units on civil rights, and the 32 students and five adults who participated were able to engage directly with the people, places, and events they had been studying. Stops included the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, the 16th Street Baptist Church, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Senior Lola Jensen said she was moved by her experience visiting Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, where in 1963 demonstrators - many of whom were children and high school students - were violently confronted by police with fire hoses and police dogs. The Civil Rights Institute overlooking the park includes exhibits on that and other significant events in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement. “It really bridged my education in school and learning from textual documents and documentaries into real life, and it really made me realize how important this is to go out and experience these things and this living history,” Jensen said. Senior Kate Ring had a similarly moving experience at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. The memorial includes more than 800 steel monuments engraved with the names more than 4,400 Black people killed in racial terror lynchings between 1877 and 1950. Ring said the experience of standing among the names and seeing how many people were killed is something that never would have been possible in a classroom. IGSS social studies teacher Lindsay Tobias said the trip brought the Civil Rights movement to life for students, who connected the experience to books, articles, and current events. “It deepened the experience … in a really profound way,” she said. IGSS Trip Presentation Board Approves 2026-2027 Budget The Board approved a $148.6M Final Budget for the 2026-2027 school year that is balanced in operating funds, upholds the District’s commitment to strong financial stewardship on behalf of taxpayers, and supports New Trier’s strong academic, extracurricular, and student support programs. The budget must be adopted by Sept. 30 each year and is developed to align with the District’s strategic goals, including a deep and broad curriculum that serves individual learners, an extracurricular program that helps all students find a place to belong, an array of student supports from the Adviser Program to Special Education, and the hiring and retention of exceptional faculty and staff. The budget includes a surplus in operating funds and transfers from the current year surplus and fund balances for ongoing capital projects, such as new science labs at the Winnetka Campus and the transformation of Northfield’s outdoor athletic facilities. The majority of the District’s revenues, 92%, come from local property taxes. The District last asked for an operating rate referendum in 2003 and made a 5-year no referendum commitment that has been extended over 20 years past the original date. State revenue is slightly higher, while federal revenue is negligibly down. Salaries make up the largest expenditure at 65%. Community members have consistently said that maintaining a high-quality teaching staff is a top priority, and 95% of New Trier teachers have a master’s degree or higher, far exceeding the 57% state average, while 77% have achieved Master Teacher or Leader Teacher status. Deputy Superintendent Chris Johnson said some future areas of concern in the District’s 5-year projections include ongoing facilities needs at both campuses, which were identified in a long-range facility plan presented to the Board in July. These needs in part include modernizing classrooms built in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1960s, mechanical and security system improvements, and improving aging aquatic facilities, including the 1930s Winnetka and 1960s Northfield pool. He also reported on the impact of reductions in revenue that result in growth lower than the Consumer Price Index (CPI), such as special education tuition reimbursement and the corporate personal property replacement tax. He said the District also could see increases in expenditures in excess of CPI, such as for transportation, energy, Special Education outplacement, and long-term facilities needs. The District continues to study all available options to keep its finances healthy while meeting New Trier’s current and future needs. The District has received numerous state and national awards for financial transparency and fiscal management, and Johnson told the Board that this budget continues New Trier’s tradition of strong fiscal stewardship. Final Budget Presentation Other News from the Sept. 22 Meeting New Trier’s 2026-2027 exchange students told the Board about their first experiences at school, from getting used to the large number of students to participating in athletics and activities. They also said they appreciated how welcoming and kind students, advisers, and staff have been in their first month. This year’s exchange students come from Spain, Italy, Germany, and Finland. Superintendent Peter Tragos and Board President Sally Tomlinson welcomed the students to New Trier and thanked their host families and AFS for supporting the students. The New Trier Board of Education generally meets on the third Monday of each month, with the business portion of the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. Full videos of Board meetings are available online at https://nths.mediaspace.kaltura.com/category/BOARD+OF+EDUCATION/ Information about Board of Education members, upcoming meetings, agendas, minutes, and other documents are available at https://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/boardofeducation

Friday, Sep 25 2026

New Trier Board of Education Briefs 8/17/26

Board Briefs News from the 8/17/26 Board of Education Meeting School Year Kicks Off with Updated Facilities, Student, Staff Development New Trier is kicking off the 2026-2027 school year with updated facilities at its campuses, as new faculty, staff, and students prepare for their roles with training and professional development sessions. Facility Updates At the Northfield Campus, a transformational project to modernize outdoor facilities for athletic, Kinetic Wellness, and community use will be completed by the end of September. The two-year project, made possible by an $11 million anonymous donation and additional District and private funds, includes new synthetic turf fields, a new community walking and fitness path, bleacher replacements, a new stadium scoreboard, and additional accessibility, energy efficiency, and security improvements. Inside the campus, a new cafe section of the student cafeteria will offer expanded grab-and-go options for freshman students. At the Winnetka Campus, five new science labs have opened and another five are under construction as part of a multi-year renovation project. The Post-High School Counseling Department has relocated to the first level next to the northwest door on Trevian Way, with additional student services offices moving next year. A new security vestibule in the same area will help make the visitor entry process more efficient. Welcoming New Staff and Students Both the Winnetka and Northfield campuses hosted welcome sessions for students and families who recently moved into the school district to help them make connections and introduce them to New Trier. In the past week, new faculty, support staff, advisers, department assistants, substitute teachers, and student and staff leaders also participated in orientation activities. Freshman and sophomore students will have special extended adviser rooms on the first day of school to help welcome them to their new campus. Staff Planning and Professional Development Administrators spent much of their time this summer planning to meet the strategic goals outlined in the 2026-2027 Annual Plan. They recently joined with faculty leaders to discuss those goals and to create shared understanding and ownership of them across the district. All staff officially returned on August 17 for the first of two institute days consisting of specialized training, department meetings, and more to prepare for the first day of school on August 19. Prevention, Safety, and Security New Trier continually reviews and improves its prevention, safety, and security procedures with students, staff, parents, and community partners. This summer New Trier partnered with township elementary districts on joint safety training. Students and staff will review safety procedures on August 26 during New Trier’s annual Prevention, Safety, and Security Day. 26-27 Kickoff Presentation Northfield TIF Update New Trier stands to lose between $62 million and $70 million in tax revenues if the Village of Northfield moves forward with a proposed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, an independent consultant has found. New Trier and elementary school districts Avoca 37 and Sunset Ridge 29 presented the consultant’s findings to a Joint Review Board (JRB) of affected taxing bodies, which recently voted to recommend against the TIF district, Deputy Superintendent Chris Johnson told the Board of Education. The JRB’s findings are not binding on the village, which has final say over whether to create the district. In total, all three school districts are estimated to lose $150 million to $169 million over the 23-year life of the proposed TIF district. Johnson said that while New Trier enjoys a good relationship with the Village of Northfield and supports a vibrant downtown, the school districts and village disagree on the necessity of a TIF district. The creation of such districts freezes taxes in a designated area for 23 years in an effort to attract developers, and additional revenues created by development are diverted to the village in a separate fund. The law allowing for TIF districts was created to help attract investment to blighted areas that would otherwise not likely be developed. New Trier receives 90 percent of its revenue from local property taxes, and annual tax increases are capped under state law, with an exception for new property. New Trier Board President Sally Tomlinson said being able to retain the funds from new property has allowed New Trier to fulfill its fiscal needs without asking taxpayers for additional operating revenues through a referendum. Tomlinson said residents have called her concerned about the TIF, and she noted that residents have spoken out overwhelmingly against the TIF in public meetings. “We are all in agreement that a strong and vibrant downtown is important to the health of our township, but we do not agree that a TIF is the only way or even the best way to accomplish this,” Tomlinson said. “When there is this level of disconnect between citizens and what their elected officials are proposing, it seems like there is an opportunity to revisit the mission, the methods, and the timing.” Village trustees are expected to vote on the TIF district in September. Johnson said New Trier and the other school districts are continuing to meet with village officials to discuss an intergovernmental agreement that could lessen some of the impact should it be approved. The New Trier Board of Education generally meets on the third Monday of each month, with the business portion of the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. Full videos of Board meetings are available online at https://nths.mediaspace.kaltura.com/category/BOARD+OF+EDUCATION/ Information about Board of Education members, upcoming meetings, agendas, minutes, and other documents are available at https://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/boardofeducation

Tuesday, Aug 18 2026