21st Century
2000s
In 2000, an addition was built on the upper floor of HBMS due to population growth. The addition included seven classrooms, an expanded tech lab, and additional office space.
In 2001, Glacier Ridge opened its doors to students and staff on Village Road. The wing on the west side of Glacier Ridge was constructed to house the District's early childhood programming, which was name the Carl Wehde Early Childhood Center. Glacier Ridge's first principal was Pat Bloomquist.
In 2002, an addition was constructed for Husmann. The addition included a new Library Media Center, a new cafeteria, and various internal renovations.
In July of 2002, the Board approved North Junior High to be renamed Richard F. Bernotas Middle School in honor of Rick Bernotas, who had just retired from the District. He has served in the capacity of Asst. Principal for North Junior High from 1971 to 1973, Principal for North Junior High from 1973 to 1984, and Superintendent from 1985 to 2002. The name change went into effect July 1, 2003.
In 2004, the District Administrative Offices moved from 221 Liberty Road to the present day location of 300 Commerce Drive.
2010s
During the 2013/14 school year, the district completed the purchase of classrooms from SEDOM within our school buildings. Over the decades, SEDOM paid to have classrooms built in our schools to support county-wide special education programming. Within District 47, SEDOM owned classrooms at North, South, West, and RBMS. With the decentralization of special education programming, the expansion of our own self-contained programming, and the need to own all classrooms in our buildings, the district initiated the process to purchase all classrooms in our buildings owned by SEDOM.
In October of 2013, the Operations Building was renamed in honor of William "Bill" Fetzner. Bill had served as the principal of South Elementary from 1979-1989 and Operations Director from 1989 until his retirement in 2005. In his capacity as Operations Director, Bill oversaw the population boom of the 90s and the construction of Indian Prairie, HBMS, Woods Creek, and Glacier Ridge, which included the Wehde Early Childhood Center.
July 1st, 2018, District 47 discontinued its membership in SEDOM (Special Education District of McHenry County) and began to function as a "stand alone" district in terms of offering special education services.
During the summer and fall of 2018, a life-skills classroom was added to the east side of Bernotas Middle School. The classroom was designed to have a home living environment so that the District could expand programming for students who would benefit from a curriculum that incorporates independent living skills.
2020s
March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
March 13th, 2020, Governor Pritzker announced the closure of all K-12 public schools temporarily due to the COVID-19 virus.
On March 20th, 2020, Governor Pritzker announced a stay-at-home order for all Illinois citizens in order to try and "flatten the curve" and stay lives amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 17, 2020, Governor Pritzker announced the closure of school buildings for the remainder of the 2019/20 school year. District 47 along with all other districts in the State of Illinois completed the 2019/20 school year with remote instruction.