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School begins at Elk Grove's year-round Ridge Center

There are only a handful of year-round schools in the Chicago area. One of them is Ridge Family Center for Learning at 650 Ridge Ave. in Elk Grove Village, which opened at 8 a.m. today for the 2011-12 school year.

The school is part of Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 and parents were invited by Principal Barbara Zabroske to spend the day with their kindergarten to fifth grade child if they wished.

Ridge students have three breaks during the school year: two weeks in mid to late October, three weeks in late December-early January, and two weeks in mid-March, along with a short summer break. During the intersessions, parents may enroll their students in additional classes for a small fee.

The school also has a longer day, 7 hours and 10 minutes of instruction except on Wednesday, when it's 5 hours, 40 minutes, about the same as the normal day at other schools. Over the course of a school year, Ridge students gained the hourly equivalent of an extra month of school. The school also has full day kindergarten.

  Boguslain Szczepanik gets into the spirt of things in his daughter VanessaÂ’s classroom, stealing the hat she made as part of the open house at the Ridge Family Center for Learning in Elk Grove Village. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Donna and Anna Mayschak, 9, work on a hidden puzzle project in her classroom at the Ridge Family Center for Learning in Elk Grove Village as part of the open house on Wednesday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Ewa and her son Patrick Mack, 11, of Mount Prospect go over school supplies in his classroom at the Ridge Family Center for Learning in Elk Grove Village as part of the open house on Wednesday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Teacher Katie Rowley works with student Jovanni Ivel, 7, of Elk Grove Village in his 3rd grade classroom at the Ridge Family Center for Learning as part of the open house on Wednesday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com