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About the IPPC
Email IPPC at ippcpta@gmail.com
Involvement in your child's education is vital to your child's success! Stay involved! Read with your child. Monitor homework. Limit media exposure. Encourage active learning. Discuss progress with teachers. Learn about your child's school. Advocate for education! Volunteer and join PTA! Vote in school board elections!
The Indian Prairie Parents' Council is the umbrella organization for all 35 local PTA and PTSA units in District 204. We share a commitment to the goals of Illinois PTA and National PTA.
Our delegate body is comprised of the President and IPPC Representative from each local unit. We meet monthly to share information about issues affecting the education, health and welfare of children and youth in District 204.
If you have questions about IPPC or suggestions for how PTA can better serve the needs of our District 204 community, please contact us at ippcpta@gmail.com.
Thank you for visiting!
Mission
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What is a Council?
The council is organized under the authority of the Illinois PTA for the purpose of conference, leadership training, and coordination of the efforts of local PTA/PTSA units.
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What is the purpose of a Council?
A council serves the following purposes:
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- Provide for the cooperation and conference in matters of the welfare of children and youth.
- Provide for the cooperation and conference of local PTA/PTSA units in council membership so as to create a public opinion favorable to the interests of child welfare; encourage child welfare projects in the various local units, and assist in the formation of new PTAs/PTSAs in cooperation with Illinois PTA.
- Unify and strengthen local PTA/PTSA units comprising the council.
- Promote the interests of National PTA and Illinois PTA within its council territory.
- Initiate action in matters of common interest within council boundaries, when supported by a majority vote of the local PTA/PTSA units in membership.
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What does a Council do?
The council exists to help its PTA units function effectively. The council contributes to a stronger, more effective PTA organization by providing local units and their leaders with: 1) guidance in all PTA matters, 2) information, and 3) inspiration and support. The council provides a forum and opportunity for all local units to communicate and cooperate with one another, thereby increasing effectiveness and capacity for service because of their united strength.
A council provides the opportunity for PTA/PTSA units to address issues which encompass, but reach beyond the local school and neighborhood. A council heightens awareness, translates resolutions into action, and works in coalition with school boards, administrators and others in the community for the betterment of children. A council provides another opportunity for local units to be involved in child advocacy issues.
The organization shall work with the schools and community to provide quality education for all children and youth and shall seek to participate in the decision-making process establishing school policy, recognizing that the legal responsibility to make decisions has been delegated by the people to boards of education, state education authorities, and local education authorities.
A council can develop good public relations and serve as a two-way channel of communication between school boards and the public. A council provides an organization through which the member PTA units can work with the school board and the administrators of the school system.
The organization shall work to promote the health and welfare of children and youth, and shall seek to promote collaboration among parents, schools and the community at large.
The organization may cooperate with other organizations and agencies concerned with child welfare, but its representatives shall make no commitments as an individual that bind the group represented.
All council projects, plan of work, and fundraisers shall be approved by a vote of the delegate body.
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What Shall a Council not do?
The council shall not:
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- Legislate for local units
- Impose any action on the local PTA/PTSA units
- Dictate to local units
- Duplicate the work of local units
- Create rules or take action involving member units without their consent
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History
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Indian Prairie School District 204 was formed in August 1972 when the residents of Wheatland Elementary District 40, Indian Plains Elementary District 182, and Granger Elementary District 90 voted 359 to 44 to merge into a single, unit district. The district educated its kindergarten-eighth graders in its four original schools: Wheatland, Indian Plains, the original Granger, and Longwood. High school students attended what are now as Naperville Central and North until the completion of Waubonsie Valley High School in 1975. Waubonsie also accommodated students in grades seven and eight until Thayer J. Hill Jr. High opened in 1981.
Since the inception of the Indian Prairie School District, school building principals and administrators have encouraged active participation by parents. Parents formed Home & School Associations to organize volunteers and raise money for extra school programming and amenities. Superintendents met regularly with the Home & School Association Presidents to get feedback and listen to their concerns. An early favorite meeting place was the IHOP restaurant at Rt. 59 and 75th Street.
In 1987, an elementary student was seriously injured at a Home & School event. Superintendent Thomas Scullen, in consultation with parent leaders, decided to discontinue Home & School Associations in favor of the National Parent Teacher Association. PTA affiliation would require bonding and insurance. All existing elementary and middle school units converted to PTAs, except Waubonsie. The high school kept its Home & School Association until Neuqua Valley High School opened in 1997. Waubonsie parents then elected to convert to a PTA.
District 204 PTAs were placed in Illinois PTA District 32 that encompasses most of Dupage County. In 1989, the PTAs formed a PTA Council, now known as the Indian Prairie Parents’ Council (IPPC). Each unit sent its president to meet monthly with the superintendent and other key administrators. The council’s monthly meeting location rotated between the schools until the Crouse Education Center (CEC) administration building opened in 1998. IPPC then was given a consistent meeting site in the upstairs boardroom.
In the 1990's, District 204 was one of the fastest growing in the United States. The district built 14 buildings to accommodate a student population that would triple from less than 7,000 in 1990 to over 21,000 by 2000. Another three buildings were opened from 2001-2002, and an additional elementary school opened in 2007. A third high school and seventh middle school opened in 2009.
As the district’s population exploded in the 1990's, the size of IPPC grew as new schools opened. By 1995, when Gail McKinzie became superintendent, IPPC consisted of the PTA president and a parent representative from each school. Larger meetings meant a diminished opportunity for the superintendent to know each president. Dr. McKinzie, in collaboration with the council leaders, instituted Presidents’ meetings to discuss district issues and unit concerns.
Today, IPPC consists of the PTA president and parent representative from each school, Indian Prairie Project Arrow PTA, and STEPS (Supportive Training Experiences Post Secondary) PTSA, for a total of 34 local units. Gail McKinzie alternative high school does not have a separate local unit; parents join their student's home high school PTA. IPPC is led by an at-large elected executive committee consisting of a president, two vice presidents, treasurer and secretary. IPPC and local units subscribe to the National PTA mission. Members work on behalf of children and youth in matters pertaining to their education, health and welfare.
IPPC Past Presidents
Patty Scholle
1989 - 1990
Sue Hulsey
1990 - 1992
Susan Burks
1992 - 1993
Karen Roberts
1993 - 1995
Pam Seubold
1995 - 1997
Joycelyn Hafstad
1997 - 1998
Leeann Skinner
1998 - 1999
Mary Anne Castro
1999 - 2001
Nikki Sangdahl
2001 - 2002
Margie Sillery
2002 - 2004
Anne Mathews
2004 - 2006
Jean Donovan
2006 - 2008
Robin Church
2008 - 2009
Jennifer Streder
2009 - 2010
Dina Lohman
2010 - 2012
Michelle Plummer
2012 - 2014
Shannon Lynch
2014 - 2017
Kellie Herzberg
2017 - 2019
Karen Duncan
2019 - 2021
Catey Genc
2021 - 2023
Shelby Schultz
2023 -
District 204 Superintendents
Thayer J. Hill
1972 - 1975
Clifford Crone
1975 - 1986
Thomas Scullen
1986 - 1995
Gail McKinzie
1995 - 2004
Howard Crouse
2004 - 2007
Stephen Daeschner
2007 - 2009
Kathryn Birkett
2009 - 2014
Karen Sullivan
2015 - 2020
Adrian Talley
2020 -
PreK/Elem Schools City Year Opened
Prairie Children PreK
Aurora
1997
Brookdale
Naperville
1985
Brooks
Aurora
1995
Builta
Bolingbrook
1999
Clow
Naperville
1979
Cowlishaw
Naperville
1997
Fry
Naperville
2001
Georgetown
Aurora
1987
Gombert
Aurora
1998
Graham
Naperville
1996
Indian Plains
Aurora
1928 (Elementary school until 1999)
Kendall
Naperville
1998
Longwood
Naperville
1967 (Granger District 90)
Watts
Naperville
1989
McCarty
Aurora
1989
Owen
Naperville
2003
Patterson
Naperville
1993
Peterson
Naperville
2007
Spring Brook
Naperville
1989
Steck
Aurora
1992
Welch
Naperville
1999
Wheatland
Naperville
1950 (Wheatland District 40; closed 2007)
White Eagle
Naperville
1995
Young
Aurora
1999
Middle School City Year Opened
Crone
Naperville
2003
Fischer Aurora 2009 Granger*
Aurora
2003
Gregory
Naperville
1987
Hill
Naperville
1981
Scullen
Naperville
2001
Still
Aurora
1999
(*original Granger opened 1921 at Rt 59 & Ogden)
High School City Year Opened
Frontier Campus
Naperville
2006 (now closed)
Indian Plains
Aurora
1928 (Indian Plains Dist. 182; addition 1964)
Metea Valley
Aurora
2009
Neuqua Valley
Naperville
1997
Neuqua Valley Gold
Naperville
1997 (Crone Middle School until 2003)
Waubonsie Valley
Aurora
1975