Summary:

Welcome to the Unit 4 School District’s initiative: Great Schools, Together. We have a lot to accomplish as a community. Top on this list is rebuilding the relationship between the community and schools, and preparing the groundwork to move into the future with facilities and quality education that supports every student that we have today and will have tomorrow.

In order to best move forward on the renovation of existing buildings and planning for the building of future buildings, a planning process has been organized to look at growth, needs, and educational and community value of the future of our schools. The goal is to have a clear direction set, not just for 2009, but for well into the future.  This direction will include needs based on curriculum, demographics, structure of schools, programming, etc. Driven by community input, the Vision Committee and Working Groups will provide a community and board guided plan, or a “bottom-up plan.”

This is a community driven process; NOT a referendum driven process.

 Our Promise to You:

We promise to do everything in our power to make this process as inclusive as possible. We will listen to what you have to say, and incorporate as much of your feedback as is feasible. And we will do our best to communicate with you, so that you understand how your feedback informed our decisions.

What We Ask of You:

We ask that you come into this process with:

  • Discernment—so that you can tell us whether or not we’re meeting your need

  • Inspiration—open to the possibility that a good relationship can be rebuilt, and that we all want what is best for our students and community.

  • Open-mindedness—let’s do our best to balance advocating for the issue(s) we believe in with being open to hearing everyone’s thoughts and input.

 The best way for us to create Great Schools is...Together!

 “The school district must be integrated into the community AND the community must be integrated into the schools.”

 —Participant at 8/20/07 meeting

Unit 4 Board Member Contacts for this Process

Kristine Chalifoux and Greg Novak are the Champaign Unit 4 Board of Education Members overseeing this process. They have secured the two facilitators from this community who are assisting with process design and implementation. Kristine and Greg are responsible for reporting progress and key issues back to the Board. They are happy to answer questions about this process; and are always interested in hearing and—where possible—incorporating community feedback. Any emails sent to greatschoolstogether@champaignschools.org will be directed to Kristine, Greg, and the two facilitators. You can also reach them separately at: kmchalifoux@aol.com and g.novak@aol.com respectively.


Stig Lanesskog,
Strategic Planning and Assessment Specialist
217-244-7222; slanessk@uiuc.edu

Stig Lanesskog is a resident of Champaign and has four children, three of which attend Westview Elementary School. Stig has over 14 years of consulting experience and was a Senior Manager at both Andersen and BearingPoint in their Strategy and Business Transformation practice. He has significant strategic planning experience working with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He is currently Assistant Provost for Strategic Planning and Assessment at the University of Illinois. He received both his undergraduate degree and MBA from the University of Illinois.


Elizabeth Perrachione,
Community-based Mediator and Facilitator
217-607-0681; emc@fireowl.com; www.fireowl.com

Relatively new to the Champaign community, Elizabeth brings over a decade of experience in facilitation, mediation, and writing. Process designer and Master Recorder for New Mexico First, Elizabeth’s breadth of facilitation work includes process design and facilitation for schools, including: K-12 curriculum development and the blending of academic achievement standards with technical career education. She also facilitated municipal dialogues for the city of Santa Fe; and many land use, infill, and zoning facilitated meetings for the city of Albuquerque. Believing in the importance of community involvement, Elizabeth is eager to serve her new community through this project.



Snowflakes, leaves, humans, plants, raindrops, stars, molecules, microscopic entities all come in communities. The singular cannot really exist.
Johnnetta B. Cole