Highland Park's Indian Trail Elementary is open for students once again, with a ribbon-cutting on Friday marking the end of roughly $26 million in renovation work and a major milestone for the North Shore School District 112's broader Long-Range Facilities Plan.
Indian Trail is the first of five elementary schools to receive renovations as part of a $114 million referendum passed in 2022. Next on the list is Ravinia Elementary School, which has some sections dating back more than a century, and is planned to reopen to students for the 2025-26 school year.
Renovations to Indian Trail include a new HVAC system, LED lighting, solar panels, new library and accessibility features, meaning cleaner air, energy efficiency, more student-friendly spaces and 100% American with Disabilities Act compliance, according to District Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld.
"It's what we call a complete and total modernization," he said. "If it was a home project, it would be referred to colloquially as a 'gut rehab.'"
Indian Trail, originally built in the 1950s, has received several additions and renovations over the years. The most recent work has thrust the school into the 21st century, from antimicrobial carpets to LED lighting meant to better match the circadian rhythm, Lubelfeld said.
"I know that sounds like science fiction, but everything about this building has been done deliberately based on the latest information about learning and biology," he said. Even the colors are meant to be "soothing and appropriate."
Indian Trail Principal Tony Candela praised the renovations during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"This event marks the culmination of hard work, vision and collaboration by so many dedicated individuals," Candela said. "What makes this renovation project so meaningful is that it's much more than a building. It's a school. It's a beacon of opportunity, growth and discovery for the people who are inside and matter most, the students."
Some of the school's upgrades were done for grim reasons. About $6 million from the original referendum was set aside for enhanced security and fortifications for the five schools. "Public" schools are no longer open to the public, Lubelfeld said.
"You can't get into the actual school itself without going through very enhanced screening and other provisions that, sadly, are necessary because of the current state of violence," he said.
Phase 2 of the district's Long-Range Facilities Plan includes similar work to Ravinia, Sherwood, Braeside, and Wayne Thomas elementary schools. There are several decisions still to be made for Phase 3, Lubelfeld said, including the future of the dual-language school Red Oak, the location for the district's administrative offices and the home for the early childhood education programs.
Lubelfeld plans to retire in June of 2026, and said some of those decisions may be made after his tenure has ended. With retirement on the horizon, he reflected on what the upgrades to the elementary schools meant to him.
"These are a series of peak moments," he said. "These are career high points. It's really humbling to be in a leadership role that allows me to have any part in this."