Community Consolidated School District 21 has opened the doors to its new $16 million community service center and administrative office, with classroom and office spaces on one level, and room for mental health services and counseling for the greater community on another floor.
About 200 SD21 staff members moved into the three-story, 45,000-square-foot facility in December, exactly 12 months after the groundbreaking. The building, at 959 W. Dundee Road, in Wheeling, officially opened Jan. 9.
“It looks like a Cadillac building but it’s a Chevy,” said Superintendent Mike Connolly, who guided Pioneer Press on a tour of the facility. “Through the design process, we were very clear we wanted it to look like a professional space but where we were able to economize, we did, and we needed to do that.”
According to district spokeswoman Cassandra Young, construction of the facility came in more than $1 million under budget at $16 million. That cost included not only construction fees, permits and architects but also the $2.1 million price of the land plus some trendy design finishes inside and out.
Officials explained that the building serves three main roles for the district: A place to offer mental health services, administrative home for the district and meeting space for not only the district but also some in the surrounding community.
The first floor is the main community service space with room for mental health counseling and a school-based health center. The second level houses 11 offices for administrative staff, along with cubicles and flexible working spaces for support staff, the business office and human resources. Then on the third floor, there is a large multipurpose room which serves as the board room for the district, but, officials said, will also host community gatherings.
Recently, the multipurpose room has been used for the SD21 spelling bee, professional development meetings for staff, a community leadership breakfast, a breakfast for real estate professionals, a Chamber of Commerce meeting and by the Wheeling Police Department as a venue for the police academy exam.
Most of the classroom and collaborative spaces have dividers to host smaller or larger meetings. A mix of grays and three shades of blue are consistent colors on the walls, carpeting and modular furniture while simulated wood surfaces make up the office furniture and visually interesting design elements.
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But the services to be provided on the first floor are what Connolly says he is most excited about. The district is working with OMNI Youth Services and the YMCA to provide mental health care in private meeting spaces for individual therapy, and small and large group counseling. Some SD21 social workers also have offices on this floor to serve the more than 280 homeless students in the district with the community closet, which is packed with donated clothing, footwear and other essential items.
Additionally, an unfinished space of 3,000-square-feet has been set aside for a school-based health center Connolly hopes to open next year. He said the district received a $1 million grant from a family foundation that wishes to be anonymous, along with another $1 million in federal community funding with help from U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park.
“We’re looking to provide health care services – starting with our students, then eventually expanding to our staff then the community, in general, and families,” Connolly said.
SD21 enrolls some 6,000 students across 13 schools and serves such towns as Buffalo Grove and Wheeling. Forty-nine percent of the students in the district are Hispanic, 60% are English language learners and more than 50% are from low income families, according to state data on the district. The elementary school district is a feeder to Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214.
Although the district has yet to secure a health care provider for the center, Connolly said the district has received two responses to its request for proposals: one from a large, area health care provider the superintendent declined to name and another from a nonprofit, federally qualified health center. Both are currently under review, he said.
Although the specifics have not been determined and would vary depending on which provider the district selects, Connolly said the Medicaid billing process would go through the provider but the district hasn’t determined if it would be billing insurance for health services. Connolly said the school-based health centers at both Glenbrook High School District 225 and Maine Township High School District 207 do not bill insurance.
That also means there’s a financial responsibility that falls on the respective school boards, Connolly said, adding he wants the SD21 center to be self-sustainable.
“Having a school-based health center provides instant access to critical, basic health care our students need,” Connolly said.
With parental consent, he said, the district could provide access to health care to address such things as immunizations, sports physicals and more.
“Conceptually, we really tried to put things in place so we could minimize as many barriers as we can to give that access to health care,” said Connolly.
He said the district used some of its federal COVID-19 rescue plan dollars to purchase three smaller school buses which could be used to transport students from schools to the new health center. He said the district also secured an additional $635,000 from the state to expand the district’s mental health services.
The first-floor space will also be used by Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization, Hands on Suburban Chicago and the YMCA, officials said.
The building is the first tenant of London Crossing, the village of Wheeling’s new mixed-use development which will include retail, restaurants and 55 townhomes.
The district’s building project was led by both Connolly and Micheal DeBartolo, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, as well as Nicholas and Associates, which served as the construction manager.
District spokeswoman Cassandra Young said the former administrative center is expected to be partially torn down and turned into either green space or an outdoor education area. She explained that staff that had previously been in the old building will relocate to the second floor of the Hawthorne Early Childhood Center over the summer.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.