At a Glance | District 401
Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401 is organized and operates as a unit district serving the educational needs of children from pre-kindergarten (PK) through 12th grade and others as required by the Illinois School Code.
What We Do
District 401 provides a comprehensive, standards-based public education to more than 2,800 students. We operate four schools:
- John Mills Elementary School | Grades PK-5
- Elmwood Elementary School | Grades K-5
- Elm Middle School | Grades 6-8
- Elmwood Park High School | Grades 9-12
The District's students are residents of Elmwood Park, Ill., a Near West suburb of Chicago with a population of about 25,000.
Our curriculum is fully aligned with the Illinois State Board of Education's Illinois Learning Standards and with the Common Core State Standards.
Our final total enrollment for 2021-22 was 2,826 students.* This includes:
- 671 students at John Mills (PK-5)
- 519 students at Elmwood (K-5)
- 675 students at Elm (6-8)
- 961 students at EPHS (9-12 & post-12 transition)
*PLEASE NOTE: All enrollment figures were final for 2021-22 as of May 26, 2022. EPHS figures include eight students enrolled in post-12 transition.
The District is here to provide the necessary resources and supports for academic success and social learning. Together, these resources and supports make District 401 a place where the phrase "An Invitation to Opportunity" encapsulates everything we do for our students.
Where We're Located
Our address is Elmwood Park CUSD 401, 8201 W. Fullerton Ave., Elmwood Park, IL 60707.
The Rest of Our Story
To read more about District 401, click the sections located immediately below.
Elmwood Park CUSD 401, a unit district in a suburban community with a small town feel, strives to cultivate the following:
- Individualized social-emotional learning processes
- Rigorous academics fostering inquisitive minds prepared for critical thinking
- Active, engaged partnerships with the community and parents
- Innovative uses of 21st century technologies for teaching and learning
The vision of Elmwood Park CUSD 401 is to inspire minds in the pursuit of excellence.
District 401 is governed by a Board of Education consisting of seven elected members. The Board's current members are:
- Mr. Frank J. Parisi | President
- Mr. Michael V. Scheidt | Vice President
- Mrs. Susan S. Capraro | Secretary
- Mrs. Mary Bruscato
- Mr. Timothy P. Loughnane
- Mr. Jonathan M. Rivera
- Mr. Peter A. Volpe
To communicate with the entire Board, please use this email link. Individuals may also submit questions or communications for the Board's consideration to District 401 Superintendent of Schools Dr. Leah Gauthier.
The District 401 administrative organizational chart is available here.
To email any of the individuals listed below, please click the name of the person you want to reach. In general, all District 401 email addresses for individual employees follow the same pattern: lastnamefirstinitial@epcusd401.org. The main office phone number is 708-452-7292.
Please note that the list below is organized by job title. "Superintendent" and "Assistant Superintendent" are listed first, followed by the remaining job titles in alphabetical order.
Title |
Name |
Phone Number |
Superintendent of Schools |
708-583-5831 |
|
Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations / CSBO |
708-583-5840 |
|
Director for Buildings & Grounds | Mr. Michael Scheidt | 708-583-5859 |
Director for Curriculum & Instruction | Dr. Kimberly Ontiveros | 708-583-5835 |
Director for Educational Operations | Mr. Douglas Wildes | 708-583-5844 |
Director for Instructional Technology |
Mr. Aaron Celmer |
708-583-5710 |
Director for Student Services |
Ms. Stephanie Daly | 708-583-5836 |
Director for Technology |
708-583-5707 |
|
Special Education Coordinator | PK-5 |
708-583-5852 |
|
Special Education Coordinator | 6-12 | Ms. Mina Caputo | 708-583-5851 |
To email any of the individuals listed below, please click the name of the person you want to reach. In general, all District 401 email addresses for individual employees follow the same pattern: lastnamefirstinitial@epcusd401.org. The main office phone number is 708-452-7292.
Please note that the list below is organized by job title. The titles are ordered alphabetically.
Title |
Name |
Accountant |
|
Accounts Payable Specialist |
Ms. Shannon Harmon |
Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent |
Ms. Nancy Lasselle |
Board-Certified Behavior Analyst & Special Education Teacher |
Ms. Victoria Rayser |
Board-Certified Behavior Analyst & Special Education Teacher |
Ms. Kelly Swindler |
Communications & Social Media Specialist | Mr. Dave Porreca |
Human Resources Generalist |
Ms. Barbara Boydston |
Instructional Coach for ELA & Social Studies |
Ms. Jamie Kanas |
Instructional Coach for Math & Science | Ms. Vanessa Woof |
Instructional Technology Coach | Mr. Paul Uhler |
Language Coach | Ms. Dominique Byrnes |
Marketing & Publishing Specialist | Position to be filled |
Network Administrator |
Mr. Quirino Carlin |
Network Administrator |
Mr. Douglas Selix |
Occupational Therapist | Ms. Patricia Thomas |
Occupational Therapist | Ms. Danielle Zeisig |
Payroll Specialist |
Ms. Danielle Yager |
PowerSchool Data Specialist | Position to be filled |
Psychologist |
Ms. Diana Sanchez |
Psychologist | Ms. Dana Yaakov-Karmon |
Social Worker | Position to be filled |
Social Worker | Ms. Michaela Vasey |
Speech-Language Pathologist | Ms. Michelle Accettura |
Speech-Language Pathologist | Ms. Allison Trybula |
Student Services Accounts Payable | Ms. Kelli Girka |
Student Services Secretary | Ms. Stefanie Paris-Colon |
Technology Specialist | Ms. Marisol Beltran |
Technology Specialist | Mr. Herbeis Garcia |
Technology Specialist |
Mr. Anthony Ginczycki |
Technology Specialist | Mr. Elias Mendoza |
If you want to reach the District Office by email, please use the general information email address listed below, or send your message to the appropriate individual listed elsewhere on this page.
The District Office is located inside the Elmwood Park High School building, 8201 W. Fullerton Ave., Elmwood Park, IL 60707.
Phone |
Fax |
General Email |
Office Hours |
708-452-7292 |
708-452-9504 |
7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday |
District 401 provides a comprehensive public education to the 2,748 students enrolled in our four schools. Elmwood Park residency is required for enrollment.
► John Mills Elementary School | PK-5
- Address: 2824 N. 76th Ave., Elmwood Park, IL 60707
- Navigation: Map | Directions
- Phone: 708-452-3560
- Fax: 708-452-0349
- Email: millsinfo@epcusd401.org
- Grades: PK-5
- Enrollment: 671 students for 2021-22
- Principal: Mr. Frank Kuzniewski
- Assistant Principal: Ms. Natalia Gomez
- About: John Mills at a Glance
► Elmwood Elementary School | K-5
- Address: 2319 N. 76th Ave., Elmwood Park, IL 60707
- Navigation: Map | Directions
- Phone: 708-452-3558
- Fax: 708-452-5567
- Email: ewinfo@epcusd401.org
- Grades: K-5
- Enrollment: 519 students for 2021-22
- Principal: Mr. Matthew Lerner
- Assistant Principal: Ms. Stephanie Hagins
- About: Elmwood at a Glance
► Elm Middle School | 6-8
- Address: 7607 W. Cortland St., Elmwood Park, IL 60707
- Navigation: Map | Directions
- Phone: 708-452-3550
- Fax: 708-452-0662
- Email: elminfo@epcusd401.org
- Grades: 6-8
- Enrollment: 675 students for 2021-22
- Principal: Ms. Ashley Groeneveld
- Assistant Principal: Ms. Stephanie Spiewak
- Dean of Students: Mr. Michael Goodman
- About: Elm at a Glance
► Elmwood Park High School
- Address: 8201 W. Fullerton Ave., Elmwood Park, IL 60707
- Navigation: Map | Directions
- Phone: 708-452-7272
- Fax: 708-452-0732
- Email: ephsinfo@epcusd401.org
- Grades: 9-12 & post-12 transition
- Enrollment: 961 students for 2021-22
- Principal: Mr. Douglas Wildes
- Assistant Principal: Ms. Stephanie Dornan
- Dean of Students: Mr. David Parolin
- Dean of Students: Ms. Agnes Stankiewicz
- Athletic Director: Mr. Doug Noyes
- About: EPHS at a Glance
All visitors to the District Office and to District 401 schools during hours when students are present must sign in and out at the appropriate security desk and obtain a visitor’s badge.
Visitors must observe the District's policy concerning visitor conduct on school grounds.
The information below is based primarily — but not exclusively — on District 401's most recent Illinois School Report Card, which covered the 2020-21 school year. All enrollment figures listed below were final for 2021-22 as of May 26, 2022.
GENERAL INFORMATION |
- Grades Included Within District 401:
- PK-12 plus post-high school transition program
- Schools in District 401:
- John Mills Elementary | Grades PK-5
- Elmwood Elementary | Grades K-5
- Elm Middle | Grades 6-8
- Elmwood Park High | Grades 9-12 & post-high school transition
- Summative Designations for Each District School:
- No summative designations were given in the 2021 Illinois Report Card.
- Total Numbers of Students (as of May 26, 2022):
- 2,826 (PK-12 plus transition & alternative)
- Students Enrolled in Each School (as of May 26, 2022):
- 671 students at John Mills (PK-5)
- 519 students at Elmwood (K-5)
- 675 students at Elm (6-8)
- 961 students at EPHS (9-12 & post-12 transition)
- Employees, Full & Part Time (as of May 26, 2022):
- 393
- Teachers & Certified Specialists (as of May 26, 2022):
- 251
- Curriculum Standards:
FINANCIAL INFORMATION |
- Total District Expenditures:
- Spending Per Student:
- Average Teacher Salary:
- Average Administrator Salary:
ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION |
- Pupil/Teacher Ratio:
- Pupil/Certified Staff Ratio:
- Pupil/Administrator Ratio:
- Average Class Size:
- Student Attendence (average daily attendance):
- District: 91.5 percent
- State: 92.5 percent
- Student Mobility (students who transferred in or out at least once during school year):
- Chronically Truant Students (students who missed 5 percent of schools days without valid excuse):
- District: 21.3 percent
- State: 22.8 percent
- Chronic Absenteeism (students who missed 10 percent or more of school days without valid excuse):
- District: 25 percent
- State: 21 percent
- Dropout Rate (students removed from local roster before end of school term):
- District: 2.4 percent
- State: 2.6 percent
TEACHER INFORMATION |
- Teacher Retention:
- District: 81.4 percent
- State: 87.1 percent
- Teachers with Master's Degree or Higher:
- District: 68.6 percent
- State: 59.5 percent
- Teacher Demographics by Gender:
- Female: 74.5 percent
- Male: 25.5 percent
- Teacher Demographics by Ethnicity:
- White: 91 percent
- Hispanic: 6.1 percent
- Asian: 0.5percent
- Black: 0.5 percent
- Two or More: 1.5 percent
- American Indian: 0 percent
- Pacific Islander: 0 percent
- Unknown: 0.5 percent
STUDENT INFORMATION |
- Student Demographics:
- Hispanic: 57.3 percent
- White: 36.4 percent
- Asian: 2.6 percent
- Black: 1.8 percent
- Two or More Races: 1.4 percent
- American Indian: 0.3 percent
- Pacific Islander: 0.2 percent
- Low-Income Students (students eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches, live in substitute care or whose families receive public aid):
- District: 41.8 percent
- State: 48.1 percent
- Homeless Students (students who do not have permanent or adequate homes):
- District: 0.2 percent
- State: 1.7 percent
- English Learners (students whose primary language is not English):
- District: 20.9 percent
- State: 12.9 percent
- Students with Individualized Education Programs (students who receive special education and/or related services in accordance with their IEPs):
- District: 13 percent
- State: 15 percent
ACADEMIC PROGRESS INFORMATION |
- Graduation Rate (four year):
- District: 79.9 percent
- State: 86 percent
- Graduation Rate (five year):
- District: 87 percent
- State: 89.3 percent
- Graduation Rate (six year):
- District: 93.1 percent
- State: 89.1 percent
- Illinois Assessment of Readiness (the IAR is the state assessment tool for ELA and math readiness in grades 3-8):
- District ELA Proficiency: 26 percent meet or exceed standards
- District Math Proficiency: 12 percent meet or exceed standards
- State ELA Proficiency: Data not available
- State Math Proficiency: Data not available
- SAT (the SAT is the state assessment tool for ELA and math readiness in grades 9-12):
- District ELA Proficiency: 28 percent meet or exceed standards
- District Math Proficiency: 25 percent meet or exceed standards
- State ELA Proficiency: Data not available
- State Math Proficiency: Data not available
- Eighth Graders Passing Algebra I (Algebra I is described as a gateway course because students typically need to pass Algebra I before moving on to high level math and science courses):
- District: 13.2 percent
- State: 28.8 percent
- High School Freshmen on Track to Graduate (students identified as "on track" have earned at least five full-year course credits (10 semester credits) and have earned no more than one semester "F" in a core course; freshmen on track is a key predictor of high school success):
- District: 78.5 percent
- State: 82.2 percent
- Early College Coursework (students taking early college coursework in grades 9-12):
- District: 41.8 percent
- State: Data not available
- Postsecondary Enrollment Within 12 Months (graduating seniors enrolling in a two- or four-year college within 12 months):
- District: 74 percent
- State: 69 percent
- Postsecondary Enrollment Within 16 Months (graduating seniors enrolling in a two- or four-year college within 16 months):
- District: 75 percent
- State: 69 percent
- Community College Remediation (students at Illinois community colleges taking remedial courses):
- District: 60 percent
- State: 39 percent