Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Illinois Junior High Plans Expansion into Full Middle School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/01/23

A junior high school in Illinois recently announced that construction has begun to expand its facility into a full-service, modern middle school, according to a news release. Plum Grove Junior High School in Palatine, Ill., currently serves about 800 students in seventh and eighth grade. Local voters approved a $93-million referendum last November that will allow the Community Consolidated School District 15 (CCSD 15) to begin work on an expansion to house the district’s sixth graders. Completion is scheduled in time for the beginning of the 2024–25 academic year.

Additions to the school are set to include two new academic wings of three classrooms each. Each wing will contain a learning commons area, a central collaboration space, science labs, and active-learning classrooms. Other updates to the campus will include new paving, a track, and outdoor play areas, the news release reports.

“We’re extremely excited to begin implementing our Moving 15 Forward plan in order to address District 15’s highest priority educational and school facility needs,” said CCSD 15 Superintendent Dr. Laurie Heinz. “By upgrading and transitioning Plum Grove into a modern middle school, we will be able to better address the unique needs of our adolescent learners and ensure readiness for high school by enhancing their educational experience and extending the time in which they spend with other adolescent learners.”

The district is partnering on the project with Wold Architects and Engineers. The renovated Plum Grove Middle School will make use of the house concept to create teams of teachers who share students during the school day.

“We are honored to be a part of this project and are grateful for our ongoing partnership with Community Consolidated School District 15,” said Wold Architects and Engineers associate architect and principal-in-charge, Mike Eichhorn, AIA. “As a local firm, we pride ourselves on supporting the communities in which we live and work and look forward to the positive impact Plum Grove Middle School will have on students for generations to come.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Photo credit: Elkus Manfredi Architects

    University of Virginia Selects Design-Build Team for New Residential Complex

    The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., recently announced that it has selected a design-build team for a new upper-class residential development on campus, according to a news release. Capstone Development Partners—in partnership with Elkus Manfredi Architects and the Hoar Construction/Hourigan construction team—will move forward with the three-building, 310,000-square-foot housing facility.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • iPark 87

    Building a Future-Focused Career and Technical Education Center

    A district superintendent shares his team's journey to aligning student passions with workforce demands, and why their new CTE center could be a model for districts nationwide.

  • sapling sprouting from a cracked stone

    Lessons in Resilience: Disaster Recovery in Our Schools

    Facility managers play a pivotal role in how well a school weathers and recovers from a crisis. Whether it's a hurricane, a flood, a tornado, or a man-made event, preparation determines resilience.

Digital Edition