DANVILLE — Thirteen kindergarten classrooms will be moving into the Mark Denman Elementary building as it undergoes an entire restructuring.
Mark Denman Elementary will become a comprehensive Birth-to-Kindergarten Center starting this upcoming school year, which will move some of its current students in grades 1-4.
Superintendent John Hart spoke to the board and public during Wednesday’s District 118 School Board Meeting about the restructuring of Mark Denman Elementary, stating he wanted to ‘clear up some rumors’ about the adjustment.
“We are still in conversations with Carle Clinic,” Hart said. “We’ve talked about both leasing and purchasing. There has been no decision made. The decision made is that pre-K and kindergarten, and our birth to three program will be at Mark Denman School next year.”
The Mark Denman Elementary will be the ‘centralized hub for early learning,’ focusing on three programs. There will be birth-to-three services, and all the pre-kindergarten and early childhood special education classrooms, all kindergarten classrooms not including Northeast Elementary Magnet students, and some special education classrooms will be under one roof.
This move will bring around 300 students currently enrolled at Mark Denman Elementary School to be moved to other District 118 elementary schools.
“All of those buildings have had more students than you’re currently looking at,” he said. “This will leave room [for] Mark Denman to grow if additional funding would become available for pre‑K.”
Doing so will also allow Mark Denman to host multiple early childhood special education classrooms, according to Hart.
“At Mark Denman, we will have one kindergarten cross-categorical special education classroom. We’ll have three life skills classes that are kindergarten, first grade,” Hart said.
Hart added that there is no finalized plan for the MATS gifted program, which is currently based at Mark Denman.
For Hart, this has been a long-standing goal to centralize kindergarten students.
“With kindergarten centralized, “there’ll be zero mobility at kindergarten … It will be nice that our kindergarten students will have a home at Mark Denman. No matter the circumstances of their family, they will remain in that school for the year.”
Hart added that this move makes everything more ‘feasible’ for parents and guardians.
“Huge benefit to our kindergarten and pre‑K students. It will be size appropriate, age appropriate,” Hart said of the new playground. He added that the building has “bathrooms in the classroom” and “a room with washers and dryers that will be able to utilize. The staff can use, the community can use. Our library will remain.”
While Hart stresses finances were not the main driver behind this decision, there are cost savings with this move. And with the move comes redrawing the school district maps for those who will no longer be going to Mark Denman Elementary.
“I really looked at trying to put the areas together, so the kids that live in the same neighborhoods would go to the same schools, even though, yes, I understand that they’re not neighborhood schools,” Hart said while showing a map of the redrawn districts during the meeting. “It’s very important to me to do that.”
Christopher Easton, a D118 board memeber, commented on Hart’s work, saying, “I think, Mr. Hart, you and Mrs. [Markesha] Parker did an excellent job on this, and I think it’s a good decision.”
MaryEllen Bunton, Director of Curriculum, and Tyler Weidenburner, Director of Building & Grounds, will provide guidance in the coming weeks according to district officials.
The district said on Thursday that schools received lists of students being impacted by reassignments, and families will be notified by mail.
For more information, district officials ask parents and guardians to contact the District 118 Administration Office at 217-444-1000.