The Central Times

03/03/2022

Central Times has been nominated by the National Scholastic Press Association for the first-ever Innovation Pacemaker award! CT has previously earned 13 Pacemakers for print newspaper and nominations for its website, in addition to a number of national finalists for individual NSPA awards. This nomination rewards the development of a smartphone app for CT that you can download now by searching “Central Times” in the Apple or Google Play stores. The project was guided by co-editor-in-chief Cameron Rozek and features the work of Hawk TV president Calvin Comstock-Fisher and the coding and development work of Daniel Wu and Brian Lu. Winners of the award will be announced in April.

02/15/2022

Day one of optional mask wearing at Naperville Central is underway. Co-editor-in-chief Cameron Rozek reports on how we got here.

Face masks will be strongly recommended, but not required, for all students, staff and visitors at Naperville District 203 facilities starting Tuesday, Superintendent Dan Bridges wrote in a Feb. 13 message .  The change was made based upon “local health metrics and the district’s ability to suc...

02/13/2022

BREAKING: Naperville 203 to switch to masks “strongly recommended but not required” on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

02/06/2022

BREAKING: The Naperville 203 Board of Education and Superintendent Dan Bridges have just announced that all existing protocols, including mandatory mask wearing, will remain in place at this time.

COVID Mitigation in Naperville 203 February 6, 2022

02/06/2022

Confused about Friday's temporary restraining order on mandatory mask mandates in Illinois schools? Think you know what it means? Central Times' co-editor-in-chief William Tong spoke with Thomas DeVore, the attorney representing the families who brought the lawsuit against the governor and school districts from around the state to clarify what it means, what it doesn't, and what happens next.

 The temporary restraining order issued on Friday by Sangamon County Court Judge Raylene Grischow may be difficult to navigate for many parents, teachers and students who are trying to understand its implications and for whom it applies. Central Times analyzed the ruling and contacted parties invol...

10/25/2021

The Oct. 25 digital print issue of Central Times is out now!

To access the issue, go to centraltimes.org and click on “E-Newspaper.”

Don't forget to share this post with other Naperville Central families, community members, and scholastic journalism supporters.

09/27/2021

For all of the Naperville Central parents out there who never got to see the school paper because your kids never brought you a copy, today is your lucky day! Welcome to the first-ever “digital print issue” of Central Times! It’s expanded to 12 pages, and it’s free.

To access the Sept. 27 issue, go to centraltimes.org and click on “E-Newspaper.”

New print issues will appear the last Monday of each month. And, as always, you can continue to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and check out website for new stories each week. Share this post to let other Central families know! And thank you for your support of Central Times.

08/20/2021

Beyond Charity executive board members Aparna Ramakrishnan, Anna Schmidt and Luka Sereci met with Governer J.B. Pritzker as he signed HB1778 into law. The bill was written by the students and introduced by former school board member and general assembly representative Janet Yang-Rohr.
The bill, called the "Beyond Charity Law", amends the School Code and the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act. Districts will be required prived contact info for the National and Local Su***de Prevention Hotline as well as the Crisis Text Line and campus police phone number.

08/17/2021

With only hours to go before the start of the 2021-22 school year, the student editorial board of the Central Times urges District 203 to accept the Naperville Unit Education Association's contract proposals. Here's why:

Days before Aug. 19, the start of the school year, the Naperville Unit Education Association and Naperville District 203 have still not negotiated a contract. Looming over the impasse is a potential teacher strike if the parties do not reach an agreement soon.    Central Times supports the NUEA.....

08/06/2021

Why haven't the negotiating teams for District 203 and the NUEA teachers' union been able to come to an agreement on a new contract? Central Times editor-in-chief William Tong explores the key issues:

The Naperville Unit Education Association and Naperville District 203 have yet to reach a negotiated settlement for the 2021-2022 school year set to start Aug. 19. Both parties’ contract proposals were filed with the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board on July 29 for public posting. After fil...

08/06/2021

Naperville community members will be hearing a lot more in the coming days about the current lack of a contract settlement between District 203's administration and the Naperville Unit Education Association. Earlier this week, teachers and their supporters held an event to raise awareness of their concerns. William Tong reports, with video and photography by Katie Dalton.

Hundreds of Naperville Unit Education Association members rallied Aug. 2 to gain ground in contract negotiations with District 203 administration and its Board of Education.  The demonstrators, wearing red in support of the association, gathered at Naperville North High School Monday evening before...

06/25/2021

Many of you who live in the Naperville area have likely taken a drive past some of the streets hit the hardest by last Sunday's storm, which featured an F3 tornado. CT's Katie Dalton and Braeden Schmidt spent time on Princeton Circle in the Ranchview neighborhood and shared these photos taken just hours after the storm, when cleanup began.

The tornado that passed through Naperville and surrounding Chicago suburbs late in the evening on June 20 changed both the landscape of the city and the lives of many of its residents. Central Times’ photographers Katie Dalton and Braeden Schmidt visited Princeton Circle in the Ranchview neighborh...

06/22/2021

Here's our first full story about Sunday night's tornado in Naperville. Written reporting by William Tong. Video reporting by Katie Dalton. Assists from Tim Dalton, Cooper Holmberg and Katie Long Piper. Central Times will continue to follow this story.

Less than an hour before midnight on June 20, as the wind howled and thunder rumbled, sirens began to wail. That was when longtime resident and Naperville Central staff member Katie Long Piper rushed her family down to the basement.  “Literally not even 15 seconds [after,] a sonic boom went off,....

03/08/2021

There was a lot of talk over the weekend about an article published in the conservative online magazine The Federalist that chronicled the complaints of a "whistleblower" teacher at Napervile Central who was troubled by equity training hosted by Naperville District 203. Read our response in our latest editorial: https://www.centraltimes.org/showcase/2021/03/08/editorial-federalist-critique-of-d203-equity-training-a-dangerous-distraction/