Classes resume without hitch at retooled Loomis, North

Tuesday was like any other first day of classes at Spencer Loomis Elementary and Lake Zurich Middle School North, with the two buildings bearing no signs of summer structural repairs.

Until last week, crews were finishing installing roof and wall anchors in classrooms and stairwells of the adjoining Hawthorn Woods schools, ensuring the roughly 430 Loomis students and 780 North students started the new school year without a hitch.

"I know they would do the right thing for our children and make it safe and secure for them," parent Diane Zelich, of Hawthorn Woods, said while photographing her second-grader heading to class.

Lake Zurich Unit District 95 officials authorized the emergency repairs once the structural problems in both buildings were discovered in late spring.

Loomis School parent volunteer Sue Fuller said district officials are handling an unfortunate situation "to the best of their ability."

"You would never know that they had structural issues," Fuller said. "There's been no concerns about safety. If anything, it's more safe. My concerns have been alleviated. School is more than a building. It's the heart and soul of the teachers and faculty."

At the middle school, a majority of the roof-wall and floor-wall connections were installed by last week. Some aesthetic work, such as finishing wall crack repairs in classrooms and stairwells, painting, and replacing cracked concrete blocks, still remains.

That doesn't affect the structural integrity of the building, North Principal Nate Carter said.

"The final cosmetic repairs are not completed in the building," Carter said. "We are still waiting to get those done. It will be (done) in the summer."

Also, additional steel wall reinforcements are needed in the band and orchestra rooms now left vacant because consultants cautioned the district that they should not be occupied when wind speeds exceed 35 mph.

"Our engineering and architectural firm has designed the permanent fix for that area," Carter said.

For now, band classes are conducted in the west gymnasium, and orchestra classes will be in the multipurpose room in the common area of the two schools.

"The kids don't know the difference," Carter said. "They don't see it. They don't know it. They are here to learn."