Unite U-46: Moving Our Schools Forward
Unite U-46: History and Progress
Keeping our Board of Education and community updated on the Unite U-46 process is a priority for this to be a success.
In early 2020, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, U-46 embarked on an Educational Facility Master Plan (EFMP) process. The Board of Education selected DLR Group, a Chicago-based design firm, as its partner in this work. This process assessed our infrastructure, classrooms, overall facility use, efficiency, and readiness in order to meet the District’s vision of moving to a true middle school model (grades sixth - eighth versus only seventh and eighth); using the space in elementary schools to expand early childhood opportunities across U-46, and to replace and/or renovate some of our older elementary school buildings to provide equitable access to learning environments that support academic success for all.
On Jan. 24, 2022, the Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution confirming their support of a five-year implementation plan that meets our District’s vision mentioned above. We understand this shift will not be an easy task and acknowledge that we need the engagement and feedback of our community. Therefore, in February 2022, community members and School District U-46 embarked on the Unite U-46 planning process to develop recommendations to improve and move U-46 schools forward.
To make the Unite U-46 recommendations a reality and address the needs discovered in the educational facilities master plan, Unite U-46 recommended the Board of Education utilize available reserve funds and place a $180 million zero-tax-rate-change bond proposal on the April 2023 ballot to address these goals. Thanks to the vote of the U-46 residents, the zero-tax-rate-increase bond issue was approved.
Phase 2 of the Unite U-46 process focused on ensuring that the original goals and intent of these recommendations were respected and honored during implementation.
From June 2023 through May 2024, more than 220 community members actively participated in six Unite U-46 community engagement workshops using the most up-to-date data to determine the optimal number of elementary and middle schools needed to serve our students and families now and in the future, developing community priorities and options for updates to attendance boundaries and reviewing options to accommodate declining enrollment and transitioning to a sixth through eighth grade middle school model. Currently, U-46 middle schools include only grades seventh and eighth.
Participation opportunities in Phase 2 of the Unite U-46 process were similar to those in Phase 1, offering the community various ways to get involved, including Facilitating Team Meetings, which helped prepare the Community Engagement Workshops, online feedback forms following the community workshops, and a community-wide survey focused on attendance boundary updates.
In September 2024, we kicked off the third phase of the Unite U-46 process to seek feedback and guidance on new districtwide attendance boundaries, which were finalized in the Spring of 2025. The Phase 3 sessions will also include regular updates on the plan's implementation and construction progress.
Please visit this page for frequent updates and information about Unite U-46.
New Boundaries
Updated Boundary Map
Additional resources related to the history of this work can be found on this page.
Naming of New School
Unite U-46 Phases
Construction Progress
This section of our Unite U-46 website will showcase construction progress made across the district. The projects listed are the result of the successful April 2023 referendum, in which residents voted to approve a $180 million zero-tax-rate-change bond proposal for the community-created Unite U-46 educational and facility recommendations.
- Legacy Middle School
- Hawk Hollow Middle School
- Kenyon Woods Middle School Addition
- Kimball Middle School Addition
- Future Elementary School Construction Projects
Legacy Middle School
Hawk Hollow Middle School
Kenyon Woods Middle School Addition
Kimball Middle School Addition
Future Elementary School Construction Projects
Board Updates
Here, you will find links to the facilities updates provided to the U-46 Board of Education.