How Big Is Growing?
A young married couple buys that starter home, fills it with furniture, food, the first lawnmower. Then these wonderful little creatures show up and need a crib, miniature clothes, their own room with books and dancing Elmos. After a while, swing sets, larger clothes, bigger meals, and sports equipment begin to appear, as if by magic. More time passes, and the roof starts to leak, the refrigerator dies, the car morphs into a mini-van, and a For-Sale sign decorates the front lawn of the house that no longer meets the needs of six teenagers.

Similar changes have been occurring in our New Prague schools--
the "community home" we have built together.

We have provided beautiful and functional educational environments to show our children that we are willing to sacrifice to support their years of learning and growing. The quality of our programs, support services teachers, leadership and buildings have attracted many new families in recent years. What does that growth look like?

• Our school buses cover 2,250 miles each day, making stops at nearly 900 homes, using 400 gallons of diesel fuel, and requiring regular maintenance and parts for 32 buses and 19 vans.



• Our kitchens serve 1,950 hot lunches every day.



• Our buildings and grounds staff maintain 650,000 square feet of rooms and 120 acres of land, requiring their respective cleaning supplies, paper, gasoline, tools, and equipment.



• We have increased the number of classrooms to accommodate more students. This growth has also required more teachers, counselors, custodial staff, clerical staff, kitchen staff, bus drivers, lunchroom and playground supervisors, textbooks, computers, and consumable lab supplies and workbooks. The additional classrooms demand more heating, cooling, furniture and lighting—as well as maintenance of those systems.

Our administrative staff has remained very lean. Other than an assistant principal in our larger middle and high school buildings to help monitor student behavior and teaching performance, we have no assistant superintendent or assistant elementary principals. We have directors only for the key and complex functions of:

• Transportation and Buildings and Grounds Maintenance (see numbers above);


• Operations (technology, data management, construction, printing, security, mailing );


• Community Services (early childhood education, community education programs, youth and adult enrichment, early childhood screening, school readiness and school-age child care programs);


• Human Resources (contracts, payroll, benefits, hiring, negotiations for 500 staff);


• Curriculum (textbooks, staff development, state testing programs);


• Special Education (state and federal regulations, individualized educational services and equipment, family interaction and related services);


• Finance (budget preparation; audit; planning and monitoring of federal, state, and local funding; payroll and purchasing for an annual budget of nearly $27 Million).


Where is this picture going in the next 3-5 years? What economic and other societal factors will drive our future growth—or a slowdown of that growth? If the proud traditions of our quality education and family-friendly community keep attracting more new residents, we will receive some increased state education funding, but we will also need to expand and equip and staff our "school-home" to provide services required by the state and deemed important by our citizens, students, and parents.

As we continuously strive to improve the quality of our programs, to keep class sizes appropriate, and to provide supporting services for our growing school family, it will be critical that we get ongoing commitment and participation from our school families, from those people not having children in our schools, from business and civic leaders, from school staff, and from experienced senior community members. We will need diverse involvement in the step-by-step planning for what our "school-home" will look like in the coming years and for how the District 721 family will work together to make that happen. Strong, successful schools make for a vibrant, healthy community, one that will return lifetime learning dividends on our investment.