Quentin elementary prepares to close
Butterflies will be released today during closing ceremonies for Charles Quentin Elementary School, as students and staff prepare to float off in different directions next year.
Assistant Principal Stefan Ladenburger said today's student-centered ceremonies will be a celebration of the school's sense of family and togetherness.
The Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school board voted last April to close Quentin, 21250 W. Shirley Road, Palatine, due to declining enrollment. The move condenses the district's six elementary schools to five.
A kindergarten through second grade ceremony will be in the gym at 8:45 a.m. That will be followed by the all-school butterfly release at 10 a.m. and a third through fifth grade ceremony at 10:30 a.m.
Principal Claudia Mall will stay with the district as principal of Sarah Adams Elementary School. She has served as the principal of both buildings this year.
The age of the Quentin school building, potential cost of repairs and underutilization of other district buildings were other factors in its closing. Quentin's students will be divided between May Whitney and Isaac Fox elementary schools.
"Nobody's worried about (where students will be next year) because this is a great place here and those are great schools as well," Ladenburger said.
The butterflies that will be released were raised by the students in their classrooms. Mall thinks the release is a good idea for reasons aside from the obvious symbolism.
"We thought that would be an eco-friendly something to release into nature, instead of helium-filled balloons," Mall said.