Kylan Anderson, a senior at Naperville North High School, gets to school at 6:40 a.m. most mornings. He doesn't have to. He just can't find a parking spot if he arrives any later.

Construction in the athletic lot on the west side of campus has cut senior parking to 333 spaces this school year, about 20 fewer than last year, according to The North Star, the school's student newspaper. The reduction means more seniors who entered the school's parking lottery lost out on a pass than in previous years.

Anderson parks on 5th Avenue or Benedetti Drive and walks eight minutes to the building. That puts him on the street 30 to 45 minutes before most pass-holding students arrive.

Anderson told The North Star that after-practice logistics make the walk worse. "I have to walk all the way to my car after practice," he said. "Who wants to do that?"

How the lottery works

Naperville North assigns senior parking through a computerized lottery. Students with a high number of tardies, disciplinary actions or prior parking violations are screened out. Some lottery winners choose not to buy a pass, so the school runs a second drawing to fill leftover stalls.

Eric Decker, assistant principal of operations, told The North Star the school keeps an active waitlist as passes go unpurchased or get surrendered during the semester.

The administration also tried to negotiate overflow parking at Crest Creek Shopping Center. The businesses declined. Students without passes are pointed to Congregation Beth Shalom, which offers its own first-come, first-served parking.

School resource officers are coordinating with Naperville police to help street-parking students avoid unnecessary tickets.

Construction timeline

The west-side building addition, which began in February 2026, includes relocated weight and cardio rooms, an indoor turf lane and two new classrooms. It also adds a new lobby and an upgraded exterior facade. The project addresses ADA compliance and structural issues in the entryway. The west entrance remains closed for the duration of construction, with a target completion of July or August 2027, according to the school's construction page.

A separate $18.5 million District 203 transportation hub is also under construction behind the school, as NCTV17 reported. That facility is on track for completion by late December.

Central does it differently

Senior Rhyse Filip, who won a parking pass, said she understands why classmates are frustrated. Naperville Central High School rotates senior parking every semester, giving more students a turn on campus. Naperville North does not.

"North doesn't do that, which I think is why students are upset," Filip told The North Star.

No timeline has been announced for restoring the lost spaces. With construction running through summer 2027, the parking crunch will last the full 2026–27 school year.