History

Robert E. Clow (his father was Robert C. Clow) was the School Board President of District 40 (Wheatland Elementary District).  District 40 consolidated with two other districts in 1972 (Granger Elementary District 90 which included Longwood School, and Indian Plains Elementary District 182) to form Indian Prairie Community Unit School District 204.  Each of these districts educated children in grades 1-8.   Students attended grades 9-12 at Naperville High School District 107 (later to become Naperville Community Unit District 203).  Mr. Clow was a member of a prominent family who owned and operated farms in the region.

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

Photo taken by Webographer Alex

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Brief District History

According to meeting minutes, and published reports, the primary reasons for planning a consolidation were to improve the quality of education for the students, and to take advantage of the commercial and industrial tax base that was projected in potential land developments in Naperville and Aurora.

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.