LP Link: October 31, 2025

The LP Link is published bi-weekly during the school year to highlight the latest districtwide news and events at Lake Park High School. Contact Sherri Anderson, Director of Communications and Community Engagement, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for content.

Spotlight on District's Master Facilities Assessment

Each month, the LP Link spotlights a District focus area to share valuable information and resources with the school community. This month highlights the progress as well as next steps of the District’s Master Facilities Assessment and Planning, a process that was initiated following a special Board of Education meeting on March 6, 2024. Typically, most school districts complete this process every decade. However, Lake Park has waited two decades while still actively addressing life safety needs (i.e. concrete sidewalk replacement, parking lot repairs); routine maintenance and equipment replacement; and renovation projects to some classrooms and programs.

Discovery Process (August 2024–Early 2025)

The Board of Education officially approved hiring ARCON Associates in August 2024 to conduct a comprehensive, district-wide facility assessment. The primary goal of this assessment was to create a master facilities plan that aligns with the District’s needs and vision, incorporates extensive stakeholder input, and guides future capital funding allocations for years to come.

During this initial phase, the following actions occurred:

Board Input: The Board of Education defined its interest in conducting a facilities assessment to help establish a long-term master plan to help direct capital planning and funding into the foreseeable future. The Board also shared its assessment of the facilities and the pending needs.
Site Assessments: ARCON staff completed site assessments using video recording at both East Campus and West Campus. These comprehensive walk-throughs spanned from late 2024 through early 2025 and were intended to document the condition of the buildings from floor to ceiling and behind-the-scenes such as floor and ceiling tiles, plumbing, and HVAC.

Administrative Input: Building administrative teams started assembling facility “wants/needs” lists in categories like activities, athletics, classrooms, maintenance/ custodial, safety and security, and technology, compiling valuable insight from staff.
Standing Discussion Item: The Board of Education designated the “District Facility Assessment” a standing discussion item since February 2025 to keep the project at the forefront and provide audience members with updates during regular meetings.

Stakeholder Engagement and Preliminary Findings (March–April 2025)

Focus Groups (Mid-March 2025): The next critical step involved conducting focus groups over three days in mid-March. ARCON engaged a variety of stakeholders from the extended community to gather perspectives on existing facilities, current/future needs, and possibilities. Participants included students, parents, licensed staff, support staff, activities, athletics, and administration.

Presentation of Preliminary Findings (April 28, 2025): Following the focus group engagement, ARCON analyzed the feedback and merged it with data from the comprehensive walk-throughs. At the Board of Education meeting, ARCON presented preliminary findings regarding the District’s existing facilities, current needs, and future possibilities. Common themes for both campuses included:

A lack of commons spaces to support blended and collaborative learning and career pathways.
Large unused spaces that have not and do not meet educational needs.
A lack of spaces that support the curricular needs of the performing arts, and current spaces that are too small to support the needs of these programs.
PE/athletic spaces that do not align with needed space types, quantities, and adjacencies.
A lack of appropriate teacher collaboration spaces.
The need for washroom upgrades and more.
Inefficient and unsafe traffic patterns for student parking, dropoff, and pickup.

Visioning and Planning Concepts (Summer–Fall 2025)

After the presentation, ARCON began the next phase: Visioning Planning/Concepts.

Preliminary Solutions (Through June 2025): ARCON worked on developing potential solutions to meet the needs identified during the Discovery phase. They developed preliminary solutions, planning diagrams, and initial "order of magnitude" budget and schedule options.

Visioning Committee Meetings (September–October 2025): The Visioning Committee was a crucial part of the comprehensive master facilities planning process. Its primary purpose was to bridge the gap between the broad needs identified by the focus groups and the concrete, detailed solutions presented by the architectural firm.

During three, 90-minute iterative meetings, ARCON presented their preliminary designs and solutions based on the data gathered from the previous focus groups and walk-throughs. Visioning Committee members, a group of nearly two dozen stakeholders including staff, students, parents, community, and Board members, provided feedback on the challenges and potential solutions to help refine and prioritize long-term planning recommendations.

Draft Master Facilities Plan Presentation (October 2025): Representing the priorities identified by the Visioning Committee, focus group feedback, and walk-through findings, ARCON spent several hours presenting the comprehensive and long-term draft master facilities plan during the Monday, October 20 Board of Education meeting. Projects were organized into discrete capital renovations and additions for East and West Campus, including:

Commons/Collaboration Spaces for Students and Staff Support
Performing Arts
(Career and) Tech Education Labs
Physical Education/Athletics
Proposed Site Modifications with Space Uses and Zoning

Determining Next Steps (November 2025–2026)

Following ARCON’s robust presentation, the focus now shifts to the final phase: determining how to proceed with the plan, which requires extensive community input.

Board of Education Special Meeting: Board members will convene with ARCON on Tuesday, November 4 to review the budget associated with the discrete capital projects that include building renovations and additions. Schedule and phasing options will be presented in future discussions.

Community Engagement Consultant Recommendation: The joint Finance and Building committees interviewed three firms and recommended approving a contract with Beyond Your Base to lead public engagement services. The purpose of the engagement firm is to share the information discovered and developed through the facility assessment process, learn about the community’s needs, wants, and possible solutions, and identify the community’s interests and priorities. This recommendation is planned to be brought forward for approval at the Monday, November 17 Board meeting.

Community Outreach: The District will work with the consultants to launch a comprehensive public information program. The public engagement process would ensure that residents gain a clear understanding of the District’s needs, proposed solutions, project urgency, estimated costs, and anticipated benefits. Based on the interests and priorities identified by the community, the Board will establish a shared long-term master plan that will guide the District’s capital projects and spending into the future.

As demonstrated from the beginning, the Board of Education and leadership team are committed to transparency and excited to keep the Lancer school community informed as this significant and future-forward process continues.

National Merit Scholarship Program

Lancers earn prestigious academic recognition.

Congratulations to Lake Park students who have earned academic recognition through the 71st Annual National Merit Scholarship Program. About 1.3 million juniors in more than 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Students and their families will be recognized during the regular Board of Education meeting on Monday, November 17.

Semifinalists: Lake Park High School seniors Abdul Kamal and Dev Sheth have been selected as a Semifinalist in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Competition. Selected based on test scores of the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and represents less than one percent of the U.S. high school seniors. To become semifinalists, the students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed by their school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance. They must also submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes a self-descriptive essay and information about their participation and leadership in school and community activities. The approximately 16,000 semifinalists have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 6,930 Merit Scholarship awards, worth nearly $26 million.

Commended Students: Twelve Lake Park High School seniors have been named Commended Students in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. The Commended Students are: Akshaya Achanta, Jill Ackerman, Sameeha Ahmed, Ella Bathje, Lillian Benchev, Adin Patel, Jon Patkowa, Mark Randazzo, Brady Snyder, Jason Sullivan, Arden Urbasic, and Christopher Yi. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2026 competition for Merit Scholarship Awards, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.6 million juniors who entered the 2026 competition.

Music Department Accolades

Congratulations to 9 Lancers who were selected for ILMEA competition.

Each fall the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) hosts regional auditions to assemble groups containing the finest concert and jazz musicians from District 9. These musicians come together for a one-day festival experience with a guest conductor and perform concerts with other musicians from District 9. Acceptance into these groups is one of the highest individual honors bestowed to a high school musician in Illinois. Congratulations to our Lancers who were recently announced:

Band

Sophomore Charlotte Daly (Flute), will represent Lake Park at the ILMEA District 9 Concert Band Festival on Saturday, November 8 at Dundee-Crown High School.

Choir

Jill Ackerman, Kaydence Hammers, Amy Kramarski, Kylene Murphy, Thalla Rhodes, and Sarah Ward will represent Lake Park at the ILMEA District 9 Jazz Festival on Saturday, November 1 at Nequa Valley High School. Kylene Murphy, Sydney Ohlson, Tiya Tennetti, and Sarah Ward were selected to perform at the Concert Festival on Saturday, November 8 at Dundee-Crown High School.

Lancer Period Schedule

Preview the upcoming topics for November.

While maintaining the same start and end times for each campus, Lake Park designed a Lancer Period Bell Schedule to allocate 38 minutes for whole-school programming that falls outside the traditional curriculum. The Lancer Period is scheduled approximately once per month on Thursdays. All students and staff are assigned to a designated classroom for the Lancer Period to ensure whole-school participation in each activity

In accordance with Public Act 102-0702, commonly known as Faith’s Law, and Public Act 097-1147, referred to as Erin’s Law, Lake Park will utilize the Lancer Period on Thursday, November 13 to address sexual abuse prevention across all four grade levels. The Faith’s Law content focuses on students understanding the five stages of the sexual grooming model and the Erin’s Law content defines sexual assault and harassment while teaching about the importance of consent. The lesson emphasizes when and who to contact if a student needs support or suspects someone of grooming, assault or harassment.

Students who do not feel comfortable listening to the presentation in a classroom setting should inform their teacher and report to the Counseling Office during the Lancer Period. Student Services Team (SST) members will follow up with those students to schedule individual sessions to review the material.

Family Resources

Unfortunately, statistics point to child sexual abuse as a prevalent and ongoing issue that impacts thousands of children in Illinois each year. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network; www.rainn.org) statistics, teens face the highest risk of experiencing child sexual abuse–66% of victims under the age of 18 are aged 12-17. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has developed a resource guide for parents/guardians, Sexual Abuse Response and Prevention Resource Guide, which is applicable to both Faith’s Law and Erin’s Law.

ACT Test Prep Course Registration

Enroll in a weekday or Saturday morning course starting in January 2026.

In preparation for the ACT test on April 15, 2026, Lake Park High School will offer a course beginning in January 2026 for juniors to develop study skills to improve ACT scores. In addition to Reading, English, Math, and Science, the course emphasizes test-taking strategies and techniques for the ACT. Students will gain insights into ACT testing situations, gain familiarity and comfort with the technology, practice and remediation, and explanations to ACT questions and answer choices.

Taught by certified teachers, the course fee is $225 and is offered on either weekdays (Tues/Thur) after school or Saturday mornings. Registration will be accepted until Friday, December 5. For additional details, view the course brochure and complete an application form.

Spirit of Excellence

LPEF now accepting nominations for Lake Park Distinguished Alumni Awards.

The Lake Park Lake Park Educational Foundation Foundation (LPEF) is inviting nominations for the Spirit of Excellence - Distinguished Alumni Awards. Please submit your nominations by Sunday, November 30. The recognition ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 16, 2026.

To qualify for this award, alumni must have graduated from Lake Park High School at least 10 years ago, with a minimum of two years of attendance at Lake Park. They should demonstrate remarkable achievements in their respective fields, public service, or within their community.

Visit the Spirit of Excellence Awards website for additional information on the Distinguished Alumni Award and the nomination form.

Community Connection: Athletics and Activities

Back Lancer Athletics and celebrate Mama G.'s legacy spanning four decades.

Join Lake Park's Athletic Boosters Club for the 3rd annual fall event on Thursday, November 6, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Pollyanna's in Roselle. Plan for a fun night of great company, food, and a chance at prizes - all while supporting the organization that supports all 30 Lake Park athletic programs. Enjoy this adults-only event with a a split the pot raffle, a silent auction with baskets organized by Lancer teams, and Food Trucks. Thanks to Pollyanna's for donating a portion of the proceeds back to the LP Athletic Boosters!

After 39 years as the "heart and soul" of the Lake Park Band Program (LPMB), Marge Goldstein, affectionately known as Mama G., is officially retiring. Known for sewing countless uniforms and flags and cheering on generations of musicians, her indelible mark on the program will be celebrated at an open-house-style gathering on Friday, November 7, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the West Campus cafeteria. Past and present LPMB family members are invited to share memories and gratitude. RSVP by Saturday, November 1.