Eisenhower Elementary school transformation –Windows of Opportunity / Windex

An elementary school in Jacksonville, Illinois, is busting through walls—literally—to improve student learning, attendance, and wellbeing by adding some daylight to the depressing classrooms.

American schools, especially those designed in the 60s and 70s, were built without windows because people erroneously believed they would be a distraction to learning. But that thinking would today earn them an F grade.

One study by the Eneref Institute focused some incredible light on the topic by finding that students with the most daylight in their classrooms progressed 20% faster on math tests and 26% faster on reading tests in one year.

The study confirmed that abundant daylight can actually eliminate classroom distractions and help students focus.

More recently a 2024 study showed that students in daylight-rich classrooms score higher on tests and stay more engaged when there is natural light in the school.

With funding from Windex, their ‘Windows of Opportunity’ program transformed the drab windowless school named Eisenhower Elementary by adding 70 windows.

Eisenhower Elementary classroom , BEFORE and AFTER – Courtesy of Windex

Since then, the school has seen multiple positive effects since installing the new windows—and the results are visually stunning. (See the cool video below…)

Windex hopes that sharing the story of Eisenhower Elementary’s transformation will highlight the importance of natural light in classrooms—like another often-cited study from University College London in 2022 that showed students experiencing more wellbeing with the addition of sunlight.

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“Out of all design parameters in school, including air temperature, acoustics, and CO2 concentration, daylight has the highest impact on overall student progress,” said one of the authors.

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