West Cook News

Oak Park and River Forest High School is inviting community members, parents, faculty, staff, and students to join its Culture, Climate, and Behavior Committee for the 2025-2026 school year. The committee’s purpose is to provide recommendations to the Board of Education on creating a welcoming environment where all students feel a sense of belonging and are held to high expectations. It also aims to ensure that student discipline rates are not predictable by race, socioeconomic status, or special education status.

Membership is open to anyone in Oak Park and River Forest. The committee will meet four times during the school year. The first session is scheduled for September 10, 2025 at 6:30 p.m., featuring inQUEST Consulting. This session will focus on developing a school culture that can address complex issues despite differing opinions and beliefs.

Additional meetings will take place in February, March, and April 2026. During these sessions, members will review the annual Behavior Education Plan and offer input on possible revisions for the following school year.

Those interested in joining can complete an RSVP form before attending.

Oak Park and River Forest High School serves grades 9 through 12 with an enrollment of 3,393 students as of the 2019-2020 academic year. The student body includes approximately 56.9 percent white students, 18.2 percent black students, 12.6 percent Hispanic students, and 3.8 percent Asian students according to data from the Illinois Report Card. In that same period, grade 10 had the highest concentration of students at 26.2 percent (source).