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Room: D135-136
Audience: Architects and District Administration Personnel
Call to Action: Fully commit to a “team of rivals” when generating a Master Plan. Create a committee of people with passion, and bring a diversity of viewpoints and stakeholders to the table. Actively work to keep these people engaged in support of the implementation of the Master Plan.
Abstract: Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF) is a 3,400-student single building school district based in the rich historic setting of Oak Park, Illinois. OPRF High School is set on an urban campus and was built in phases from 1907 through 1967. Until work began on the IMAGINE OPRF Master Plan projects no significant renovations to the school had been undertaken since 1967, and significant work was required for the existing building to meet the current District needs and vision. The Oak Park community, and OPRF are passionately focused on being leaders in support of equity and sustainability. The work being done at the school as part of the IMAGINE Master Plan is designed to honor the rich history of OPRF while transforming it to support the District’s educational, equity, and sustainability vision. In order to get to the point of implementation of the Master Plan there has been a long path of community engagement, relationship building, needs assessment, and funding to navigate. This process has also required the District to look holistically at their 10-Year-Plan and Sustainability Goals in conjunction with the IMAGINE Master Plan. Lynn Kamenitsa is an Oak Park community member and was one of the leaders of the IMAGINE team. She will speak to the formation of the IMAGINE team, the development of the District’s five project Master Plan, and how the team became a passionate community advocacy group in support of the implementation and funding of IMAGINE OPRF. Greg Johnson and Tony Arbogast of OPRF will speak to the journey to fund IMAGINE OPRF, the importance of the relationships the District had with the community, neighbors, and within the District itself, along with lessons learned in the journey so far. Alyson Sternquist with FGM Architects will speak to the work done to look holistically at the District’s 10 Year Plan work, meet the District’s sustainability goal of electrification of the urban campus, and the implementation of the IMAGINE OPRF Master Plan. The ongoing, active collaboration of all of these team members has been crucial to the successful implementation of IMAGINE OPRF.
Learning Objectives:
Alyson has been designing educational facilities for over 20 years. She is a licensed Architect and LEED Accredited Professional. Alyson has worked on educational and LEED projects all over the country from Illinois to New York, Texas, and Massachusetts. In the last four years, Alyson has designed and delivered for OPRF eight different projects, several simultaneously. She is working with them on refining and implementing their 10-Year-Plan, sustainability goals, and the IMAGINE Master Plan.
Dr. Johnson has been with Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 since 2017, becoming Superintendent in 2021. He began his career at Urbana High School, in Urbana, Ill., and was Principal of Centennial High School in Champaign, Ill. Dr. Johnson holds a Ph.D. in educational policy, organization, and leadership from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he also earned a B.S. in secondary English education and an Ed.M. in educational administration.
Dr. Kamenitsa served as citizen co-chair of the Imagine OPRF Work Group, the team of community members that created the Imagine Long Term Facilities Plan at Oak Park and River Forest High School. She co-founded and served as the first Executive Director of the OPRFHS Imagine Foundation, a nonprofit helping fund Plan implementation through philanthropy. Since retiring as a professor of political science and women’s studies, she has worked as a nonprofit and political consultant.
Anthony is assistant superintendent for business services at Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200. He has served in similar roles since 2016 at Roselle School District and Plainfield CCSD 202. Anthony served on the Illinois Association of School Business Officials Board of Directors from 2020-2023. He has an MBA from Colorado State University and master’s in educational leadership and school business management with CSBO endorsement from Northern Illinois University.
Community Engagement
Leads the internal and external communities through a discovery process that articulates and communicates a community-based foundational vision, forming the basis of a plan for the design of the learning environment. The vision is achieved through a combination of rigorous research, group facilitation, strategic conversations, qualitative and quantitative surveys and workshops. Demonstrates the skill to resolve stakeholder issues while embedding a community's unique vision into the vision for its schools.