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District 47 Boundaries

Scroll down for information on the current Elementary Boundary Adjustment Recommendations.

School Search

Below you will find a general area map of the Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 school boundaries.  To confirm the home school assignment for a specific home address, please use School Search or contact student services at 815.788.5000.

SCHOOL SEARCH USING HOME ADDRESS

Current Boundary Maps

Boundary Review

District 47 initiated a comprehensive review of school district boundaries in early 2024 to ensure balanced enrollment and efficient use of facilities and resources. The first phase of this work focused on our three middle schools, and boundary adjustments for those schools took effect for the 2025-2026 school year.

The focus then shifted to reviewing elementary school boundaries. The Boundary Committee, composed of board members, administrators, staff, parents/guardians, and community representatives, has been analyzing current enrollment data, population trends (including several new housing developments), geographic considerations, community feedback, and other relevant factors to determine whether adjustments are needed. 

The Boundary Committee has completed its assessment and provided the recommendations below in partnership with the Superintendent. Beginning in July, the Superintendent, Dr. Kathy Hinz, will provide informational presentations to the Board of Education during Board meetings to address questions, share community feedback, and help the Board and community better understand the options and considerations. A community-wide survey will be conducted in September to gather additional feedback on the proposed recommendations. A final presentation to the Board of Education will take place at the October Board meeting, and the Board will vote on a final decision in November. Any approved changes will go into effect for the 2027-2028 school year.

Our strategic plan calls for ensuring equitable facilities across the district, prioritizing funds for student growth, and remaining responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. Currently, the district has an enrollment imbalance across school buildings. Both recommendations address this by helping ensure every student has a consistent, high-quality school experience, regardless of the building they attend. They also allow the district to operate more efficiently, with savings redirected toward school improvements that directly benefit students without increasing taxes

Boundary Feedback & Question Form

Do you have a question regarding District 47 boundaries that isn't in our Frequently Asked Questions? Fill out this form to submit your question. Common questions will be added to our FAQ.

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Why is a boundary change necessary?

Maintaining balanced student enrollment across our schools is crucial for providing equitable access to resources, facilities, and educational opportunities. District 47 is reviewing current boundaries in an effort to balance enrollment, offer a cohesive K-12 experience, consistent access to programs, improve transportation efficiency, and keep students at their home schools whenever possible. This initiative is focused on the long-term stability for our schools, and ultimately, to better support our students. 

September 2026 Elementary Boundary Presentation

September 2026 Elementary Boundary Update- English

September 2026 Elementary Boundary Update- Spanish

August 2026 Elementary Boundary Presentation

August 2026 Elementary Boundary Update- English

August 2026 Elementary Boundary Update- Spanish

Recommendations to the Board of Education

Recommendation 1: Grade-level Centers

Grade-level centers create school pairs that house specific grades rather than a traditional K-5 elementary. 

Updated Version 9/21/26:

Original Version:

For most families, school assignments will remain the same. Students will continue attending their current school, along with the school it is paired with under the new grade-level center model.

For example, a student currently attending West Elementary would continue attending West for grades K–3 and then attend South Elementary for grades 4–5. A student currently attending South Elementary would attend West for grades K–3 and then return to South for grades 4–5.

The Benefit:

  • They facilitate targeted, developmentally appropriate instruction, social-emotional support, and stronger teacher collaboration. Combining grades from both schools would help balance class sizes, reducing the number of classrooms that are over or under capacity.

Logistics:

  • Creates up to 4 pairings of elementary schools into grade level centers. Indian Prairie would remain a K-5 school building.
    • Glacier Ridge (grades PreK-2) and Woods Creek (grades 3-5)
    • North (grades PreK-2) and Husmann (grades 3-5)
    • West (grades K-3) and South (grades 4-5)
    • Coventry (grades K-3) and Canterbury (grades 4-5)
  • School start and end times may shift slightly due to transportation needs. Staggered schedules would still allow siblings to be picked up and dropped off at the same time.

How This Option Aligns with Our Priorities:

  • Keeps neighborhoods intact while addressing future capacity, transportation, and long-term enrollment balance.

  • Nearby buildings allow transportation routes and sibling schedules to remain largely unchanged.

  • It opens up space at North to add a more centrally located PreK program.
  • Removes both non-contiguous boundaries and creates a K–12 pathway for the Ridgefield area.
  • Supports balanced class sizes and flexible student grouping options in grades K–5.
  • Creates more developmentally appropriate elementary environments, routines, and learning spaces.
  • Improves building space usage, traffic flow, and operational efficiency.
  • Gives teachers more targeted professional development opportunities and stronger grade-level collaboration.
  • Reduces duplication of curriculum materials, library resources, and specialized software across buildings.

Key Benefits:

  • Balances class size by redistributing enrollment
  • Additional, more centralized PreK at North Elementary. (PreK would have exposure to the Dual Language program)
  • Keeps neighborhoods together
  • Creates larger teacher teams, leading to more support, climate and culture
  • Professional development for staff and instruction for students can be more focused potentially leading to more growth

Acknowledging Challenges

  • Grade level configurations are inconsistent across the district (K–5, K–2/3–5, K–3/4–5), creating a lack of uniformity between buildings.
  • Some building modifications like bathrooms and playground area would be necessary to accommodate primary grade levels in some buildings and intermediate at others. 
  • Does not move enough students to southern schools, which keeps most special education programming concentrated in those buildings.
  • School start and end times would need to shift slightly between paired schools due to transportation needs. Staggered schedules would still allow siblings to be picked up and dropped off in their neighborhoods at the same time.

Local school districts with grade-level centers

  • Huntley Community School District 158
  • McHenry School District 15
  • Glenview School District 34

Recommendation 2: Multilingual Language Academy

Instead of offering the Dual Language program in multiple elementary schools, a Multilingual Language Academy would bring all Dual Language students together in one building. Students learn academic content in both English and Spanish, building strong biliteracy and content knowledge in both languages. Coventry Elementary would transition to a Multilingual Language Academy, serving all Dual Language students in a single location.

 

The Benefit: 

  • This would allow for more targeted professional development and stronger staff support systems, addressing current challenges that contribute to the loss of dual language teachers to other districts.

Logistics:

  • The boundary lines would be redrawn for those in the current Coventry boundaries to go to other schools
  • This is for the dual language program only, English Language Learners (ELL) would still receive services in all other schools

How This Option Aligns with Our Priorities:

  • Removes both non-contiguous boundaries.
  • Creates a K–12 pathway for the Ridgefield area.
  • Supports balanced class sizes and allows flexibility in separating K–5 students as needed.
  • Provides more targeted professional development, support, and growth for Dual Language staff and programs.
  • Opens space for additional PreK classrooms in a more central location
  • Allows for movement of self-contained programs across the district.
  • Improves operational and resource efficiency by reducing duplication of curriculum and books, focusing resources at the Multilingual Language Academy.
  • Supports teacher recruitment through stronger team structures, collaboration, and community building.

Key Benefits:

  • The academy would create a schoolwide culture where biliteracy is treated as an academic strength, a family asset, and a long-term opportunity for students into high school and beyond.
    • Research consistently shows that high-quality English-Spanish DL programs provide meaningful academic benefits for students. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have found stronger reading and math outcomes for students participating in dual language immersion, with benefits seen for both multilingual learners and native English-speaking students (Bibler, 2021; Morales, 2025; Steele et al., 2017). Research has also shown that these academic gains begin as early as first grade (Morales, 2025) and continue throughout elementary and middle school (Steele et al., 2017).
  • Balances class size by redistributing enrollment
  • Additional, more centralized PreK at North Elementary
  • Allows for redistribution of enrollment in the southern schools, which frees up space to move self-contained programs across the district 
  • This would allow for more targeted professional development and stronger staff support systems, addressing current challenges that contribute to the loss of dual language teachers to other districts.
  • Creates a district program focused on English-Spanish biliteracy, academic achievement, student identity, and family connection.

Acknowledging Challenges:

  • Coventry has enough space to serve all current Dual Language students. To keep enrollment within the building's capacity, enrollment for students each year at kindergarten would need to be limited to 5 classes or a total of 110 students.
  • Transportation is provided for students who meet the State’s requirements (i.e. 1 ½ miles from the school without having to cross a hazardous walkway/intersection. 

School districts with dual language/multilingual language schools in Illinois

Guidance from the Illinois School Board of Education (ISBE)

Below is the text directly from an email exchange with ISBE, without any edits or summaries. Below is a link to a pdf of the email.

Email Clarification Regarding Dual Language Academy Model

  • {D47 Question} Is a centralized K-5 Dual Language academy model permissible in Illinois if it is implemented with equitable access, appropriate staffing, full curriculum access, and continued compliance with TBE/TPI, Title III, and civil rights requirements? 
    • {ISBE response} A centralized K-5 Dual Language Academy model is not prohibited in Illinois, provided it is designed and implemented in compliance with applicable State and federal requirements.
  • {D47 Question} Does ISBE view a centralized Dual Language academy model as inherently segregative or discriminatory, or would that determination depend on how the model is designed, staffed, communicated, and implemented? 
    • {ISBE response} A centralized dual language academy model is not inherently segregative or discriminatory. Whether a program is segregative or discriminatory would depend on how the model is designed, staffed, communicated, and implemented as well as how the method and manner for placing English Learner (EL) students in the program is articulated and actually implemented. The district should work with its own legal counsel to determine whether the program's design and implementation comply with applicable State and federal civil rights requirements.
  • {D47 Question} Are there specific compliance considerations ISBE would expect the district to address since this model is being pursued, such as enrollment procedures, language group balance, parent choice, transportation, access to services, staffing, curriculum, or reporting? 
  • {D47 Question} Is there any ISBE guidance or rule that would support the statement that this model would automatically result in a loss of bilingual/EL funding after an audit? 
    • {ISBE response} ISBE is not aware of any provision that de facto results in the loss of bilingual/EL funding solely because a district implements a centralized Dual Language Academy, Funding issues would depend on the district’s compliance with applicable funding and program requirements.
  • {D47 Question} Are there examples, guidance documents, or contacts you would recommend we review as we continue evaluating this recommendation? 
    • {ISBE response} The agency is in the process of developing a comprehensive Dual Language Guidance document. Drafts 1 and 2 are available on our website. While the final draft is not yet available, District 47 may find the citations listed within the document drafts to be helpful resources. With regards to compliance, the agency recommends regular cross-checking of district plans for EL services at the Dual Language Academy with 105 ILCS 5/ Article 14-C and 23 Illinois Administrative Code Part 228. The department also has a Self-Assessment checklist that districts may use as they regularly review their programming. As always, the Multilingual / Language Development Department’s principal consultants are available to provide programmatic technical assistance and answer questions regarding English Learner and Dual Language programming. Please do not hesitate to reach out.

Capacity Maps

Heat Map of Current Enrollment: Over, Under, At Capacity

Heat Map of Projected Enrollment with Developments: Over, Under, At Capacity

Updates

Impacts of moving forward without making any boundary changes:

Student/Family Impact

  • Many students will continue to have long bus rides, including students from new developments. This happens when schools reach capacity and sections are closed, requiring some students to be assigned to another school with available space farther from home.
  • No PreK location will be able to be added more centrally if space isn’t made available by boundary changes
  • Overcrowding in some schools and class size variation by building

District Impact

  • Increased transportation cost to the district 
  • Longer routes require more driver time, increased amounts of fuel, and more wear and tear on of the buses and equipment
  • Inefficient use of facilities and human resources

Elementary Boundary Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)