Northeast students return this week

Jul. 19—DANVILLE — It was a short summer break for Northeast Elementary Magnet School students, parents and staff for the balanced-calendar school.

But as teachers return to the school today and students return on Wednesday, Northeast Principal Justin Thorlton said they're ready for a great new school year.

Students attend 45 days followed by a 15-day break in the fall and spring. There also is a 10-day winter break. Northeast students attend the same number of days as other District 118 students.

In D118's traditional-calendar schools, students still have about four weeks until they return to classrooms.

Thorlton is starting his fourth year at Northeast and said he's looking forward to returning to more of a normal school year.

"Last year we just tried to keep everybody as calm as possible," Thorlton said. "This year we can actually get back into our routines and procedures, and actually get things going with a little bit more, I guess, fidelity."

Masks are still recommended, but not required, for students, as Vermilion County has advanced to a high transmission rate level for COVID-19.

The school has about 315 kindergarten through sixth-grade students registered, according to school secretary Kim Corley.

Kindergarten through fourth grade is full, Corley said. Fifth and sixth grades are not completely full, as some students have moved to South View Upper Elementary School for those grades and for MATS (Motivating Academically Talented Students).

There is an application process for Northeast, and a lottery system to get in if more students apply than there are available openings. When classes are full, there are wait lists for the two classes for each grade at the school.

"We were able to get all the kindergarteners in without a wait list this year, so that was really good," Thorlton said.

Thorlton said all Northeast teachers are back. They had no retirements or changes from last year.

A lot of Danville School District 118 staff just got back from a big AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) conference in Minnesota.

"AVID is ultimately just about best teaching practices," Thorlton said.

Northeast has a dress code for students, which also includes navy blue polo shirts this year; and requires families complete 26 volunteer hours.

Northeast focuses on health and wellness. It's regularly been one of "America's Healthiest Schools" for its initiatives.

In 2011, Northeast was the first elementary school in the nation to earn gold-level status from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

The Alliance is a national organization that empowers youngsters to develop lifelong healthy habits. Northeast has been one of the nation's healthiest schools based on its ability to meet a rigorous set of criteria, including serving healthier meals and snacks, getting students moving more, offering high-quality health and physical education and empowering school leaders to become healthy role models.

Northeast students have physical education every day and alternate Spanish and music every other day. Other Danville elementary schools swap P.E. and music on alternative days.

In addition to indoor activities and a new gym coming in the next few years, Thorlton said with the outdoor fitness area and stations right outside the school, "we get out so many days of the year."

Future construction

Thorlton said he's excited for an addition to be built onto the east side of the building possibly starting next year.

The Northeast Elementary Magnet School expansion will consist of a new gym, music/band room, two additional classrooms, additional restrooms and office space. The estimated cost is $7.8 million, which also includes HVAC upgrades.

Thorlton said the school's entrance will change, having it safer to come in and with people needing to be buzzed in a second time to enter the building.

"It's been talked about for so many years," he said of a school addition and changes to the older building.

He said they're looking forward to having more space because finding the space to store anything is a huge challenge right now.

Advertisement