History

Clow and Hill Middle School were the first schools constructed following the creation of the district and the building of Waubonsie Valley High School. These schools were the outcome of a citizens committee examining district needs, a collaborative process that is still successfully employed today. 

In 1979 Clow was located in a rural portion of Naperville.   In fact, the first Principal,  Carl Pinnow, reports that when he came to visit the school during construction via Leverenz, the road ended where the county and city boundary met (today Flambeau Drive intersects Leverenz at this location). He had to leave his car at the dead end and walk to the school site.  By the time the school opened roads had been constructed, but you will see from the S.W. picture below, there were no houses. From the S.E. picture below you'll note many small plantings around the foundation.  Neighborhood volunteers (Wheatland View did exist at this time) joined school personnel in landscaping the grounds. Former Assistant Superintendent for Business Peter Gombert, and Board of Education member Owen Wavrinek, were among those who spent their weekend digging holes and planting  bushes and trees.

Timeline: 1979 - 2003

That was ... 1979	This was ... 2004
North Neighborhood View
Northwest Neighborhood View
South View
Southeast School View

Newspaper reports state that the petition to form a unit district came as a surprise to the boards of education of District 107 and its sister district, Naperville Elementary District 78.  One board member was quoted as saying, "This certainly has thrown things into a turmoil."  Another said, "The matter of the tax base is very vital to our district Naperville 107."  This consolidation, a newspaper article said, "would leave Naperville school districts without the tax revenue from the Nabisco plant, the rumored shopping center along Route 59 (Fox Valley Mall), the proposed Western Electric plant at 75th Street and Book Road, and District 107's proposed third high school site on 87th Street at Modaff Road.

Naperville started out as a rural community, but increased technologies and improved transportation brought people west from Chicago.  Population in both Naperville and Aurora tripled, and soon quadrupled.  Recognizing this impact, the farm families in the elementary districts became concerned, according to officials, that they "would be swallowed up by the larger unit districts" that were beginning to form.  New state laws provided an improved funding formula for unit school districts, and local parents wanted to take advantage of that while having more "control over their destiny."

The three districts requested a feasibility study which was done by Midwest Educational Consultant Service.  In addition, a ten member citizens' committee participated in gathering data and seeking parental support.  The reports detailed the advantages of a unit district (vs. current elementary districts serving gr. 1-8) and outlined junior high and high school programming necessary for the districts to develop if they consolidated into a unit system.

The three school boards put the unit district proposal on the August 12, 1972 ballot.  It passed with 359 yes votes and 44 no votes.  The regional superintendent assigned 204 as the district's number and the election of the school board occurred in September.  At about the same time, Naperville High School District 107 and Naperville Elementary District 78 united to form unit district 203.  The assets were split between the two districts and boundary lines were agreed upon.  Naperville District 203 would keep the high school (Naperville Central High School) and District 204 was deeded the ownership of the high school property site on 87th Street.  The first superintendent was Thayer J. Hill, Sr., former assistant superintendent of Naperville District 107, who served until his death in 1974.

Immediately after the consolidation was approved, officials began planning for the high school which was required by law to be operational within two years.   Until the school was built, students would continue to attend Naperville High School on a tuition basis of $1,500 per student per year.  Waubonsie Valley High School opened in 1975 with an enrollment of 295 high school students and 175 junior high students.  Construction problems plagued the project, but it was state-of-the-art at the time, complete with swimming pools and a planetarium.  Waubonsie graduated its first senior class in 1977.

In March, 1977 a 5.7 million dollar referendum passed to construct Hill Middle School (at that time entitled Junior High School) and Clow Elementary School.  This was the beginning of what would be over 20 years of rapid growth of District 204.  What began as a small rural district in the early 70's has become the third largest district in the State of Illinois behind Chicago and Elgin!

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