Nearly eight months into its facilities improvement project, Mundelein High School is on schedule and under budget.
And while the first portion of phase I - renovation of the MHS Annex - is complete, the overall project still has a long way to go with the heaviest work scheduled for the summer of 2026. Currently, workers are building eight new classrooms on the school’s west side, adding a stormwater detention system to the south end of the building, and grading land for athletic fields at Village Green.
“We’re very happy with our progress at this point,” said Dr. Corey Tafoya, Superintendent of Districts 75 and 120. “It’s very exciting to see the project taking shape. But we know we have a long way to go.”
The project will be funded, in most part, by a $149.5 million referendum voters supported In November 2024. At this point, the district is financing construction services with its $50 million in debt service funds and has still not issued any referendum bonds.
The improvements project, underway since March, will upgrade aging infrastructure, solve overcrowding, and improve safety at the school. It will also enhance instructional spaces and add space to improve career and technical education programs. Improvements will focus on common spaces that were part of the school’s original 1958 design, such as the cafeteria, kitchen, gymnasium and auditorium. The project will include additional classroom and storage space and a multipurpose fieldhouse.
The renovated MHS Annex - now named the Myers Education Center - opened in August as the new home of the District 120 Transition Center. Construction of new classrooms is on schedule as workers poured concrete in September and erected the steel superstructure in October.
District 120 started grading the Village Green property in mid-September. Bids for the work came in at $4.2 million, nearly $1 million less than budgeted. Plans for the property include eight tennis courts, one softball field, one baseball field, one multipurpose field for soccer and lacrosse and a lighted parking lot. About 2,300 cubic yards of soil from the MHS construction area is being used to help establish the Village Green multipurpose field, resulting in a significant cost saving.
Ongoing work includes wall framing, structural steel, mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Roofing and masonry work will follow. Workers will soon establish a stormwater detention system on the south side of the high school. MHS will turn the space into 24 temporary parking spaces for staff members.
In the summer of 2026, workers will demolish the D wing at MHS, begin work on the multipurpose fieldhouse, renovate the cafeteria and finish the eight new classrooms. MHS staff have started logistics planning in anticipation of disruptions to school programs both inside and outside of the building.
The District 120 School Board modified the school calendar during the next two years to allow for more work to be completed during the summer months. The modifications will create longer summers in 2026 and 2027. Next year’s school calendar will run from Sept. 8, 2026 to June 10, 2027. The following year, it will run from Sept. 7, 2027 to June 9, 2028.