Classes at District U-46 started Thursday for the new school year, with some students arriving to find renovated and expanded buildings.
Among them was Illinois Park Elementary School on Elgin’s west side.
“I’m excited about all of this. It’s a teacher’s dream to open a new school,” Assistant Principal Maria Martin-Bowman said.
Illinois Park, located at 1350 Wing St., opened in 1998 as an elementary school and became the Illinois Park Learning Center in January 2006. Its return to being an elementary school was part of the district’s Unite U-46 initiative to update buildings to better accommodate changing enrollment and modernize facilities.
That’s included the construction of new grade and middle schools and the renovation/expansion of others. The work is being funded through a $179 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2023.
Among the biggest changes under the initiative was a decision to move all sixth-grade students from elementary schools to middle schools, a shift that Thursday affected about 2,400 incoming sixth-graders.
At Illinois Park, expansion and renovation work began in late spring, U-46 Chief of Staff Brian Lindholm said. In addition to upgrading the building’s interior, the district also made improvements to its drop-off and pickup system for parents and buses, installed new playgrounds and created a stormwater management area.
“Illinois Park work is tracking slightly above its original estimate of $10 million, primarily due to HVAC improvements that will enhance indoor air quality and humidity control for students and employees while avoiding future retrofit costs,” Lindholm said. “In addition, the stormwater detention scope proved more extensive than originally anticipated.”
What’s left to be finished is construction of a large multipurpose commons area, which should be done by the end of October.
Illinois Park Principal Cody Papp said she was looking forward to having the larger, brighter commons space as students currently use a smaller, lower-level space for breakfast and lunch.
“We’re also looking forward to our focus this year on building a community,” she said.
Papp was assistant principal at Sunnydale Elementary School in Streamwood last school year but started her career in 2019 as an early childhood special education teacher at Illinois Park.
Martin-Bowman is new to Illinois Park, having been at Washington Elementary for the 2025-26 school year, which was the final year for the 135-year-old Elgin building. U-46 also closed Lowrie Elementary in Elgin and Hanover Countryside in Streamwood after the last school year.
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All told, about 33,000 kindergarten through high school students started class Thursday. Preschool sessions begin Thursday, Sept. 3.
Katie Cox, director of early learning initiatives, said 25 of the district’s 36 elementary schools now have preschool classes, with Bartlett being served by Independence Early Learning Center. That’s a change from last year, when 14 elementary schools offered preschool.
Including preschoolers, enrollment at Illinois Park is 311 students. The school has 73 employees, including 21 classroom teachers and 27 additional instructional staff members for special education programs and related services. Papp said Illinois Park also has a dual language program.
Nancy Williams, who started her 27th year in special education Thursday, made the move to the school from Sunnydale. She will oversee a Multi Abilities Classroom, a new districtwide effort that combines what had been three other programs for students with distinct special needs. Her classroom will have nine students in grades 3 to 5 and two aides.
“It’s a brand-new start,” Williams said.
For parent Tyesha Pettit, it was a new start for son too. Ryan, a third-grader, can now walk to school at Illinois Park rather than taking the bus, which he previously had to do when attending Century Oaks Elementary in Elgin. In addition to his mom, he was accompanied Thursday by his 9-month-old sister, Summer, in a stroller.
Also new to Illinois Park were Tamara Latine and her daughter, Aniyah, who was starting third grade after having previously attended Hillcrest Elementary last school year. Aniyah was looking forward to making new friends, she said, while her mother said she liked the convenience of the school being closer to their home.
“I’m excited. Illinois Park had a good reputation as an early learning center so we shall see how it goes as an elementary school,” Tamara Latine said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The (Elgin) Courier-News.