Glenwood School seeking to be larger part of the Kane community

Located in a part of St. Charles far away from the hustle of downtown, the Glenwood School for Boys and Girls is perhaps a misunderstood entity in the community.

Much of that stems from the nearby Illinois Youth Center. But while many detention center youth already have delved into a life with legal turmoil, Glenwood is about making sure its youth escape sharing that same fate.

Glenwood's campus on Silver Glen Road is neither well-marked nor easy to find. Because of its hidden nature, school staff say many people they meet in the community often mistake Glenwood as a place where "bad kids" are sent.

But a visit to the campus quickly eradicates that misconception. There is no barbed wire here. There are no bars on the windows and doors. The students are not at the school because of a sentence handed down by a judge.

Instead, a visit to the campus on a warm spring afternoon yields a group of students eager to show off their latest achievements in science. Projects in which students have learned the power of magnetism, the physics of a slope, the unique beauty of crystal and the impact of acid and sugar on plant growth are introduced by students who greet visitors with a "Mister" or "Ms." and a shake of the hand.

Indeed, the students are here by choice, not force. They come from neighborhoods and schools where poverty, violence and day-to-day struggles are the norm. Yet, they are fortunate to have parents who know they don't want their children to fall into that cycle.

"When you see the news on TV, you see those sort of problems in Chicago," said Sam Banks, president of the school. "Those issues are right here, too. It may not be put right in front of you, but it's still there. What we have are kids with potential. These are good kids who, if given the opportunity, will do well. Ninety percent of our kids go onto college. If we had bad kids, they wouldn't be there."

The school serves primarily students in grades two through eight; students who choose to stay on after that attend St. Edward High School or Westminster Christian School, both in Elgin.

That future doesn't come without learning the value of hard work and the discipline and teamwork it takes to get it done. Many of the students at Glenwood start at least two years behind the grade level they should be in. Class sizes are small, with more individual instruction in a state-recognized program that is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States.

Students live on the campus Monday through Friday with house parents who make sure homework is done, with help if necessary, to ensure the students catch up fast. The school does not accept children who are wards of the state because every child goes home for the weekend and holidays. However, because most of the children come from disadvantaged backgrounds, the tuition for most of the students is subsidized through fundraisers and donations.

Donors are able to directly connect with the students they help in covering all or part of the $15,000 annual cost of their food, housing and books. Banks said that financing actually results in a cost savings for local taxpayers who might otherwise have seen their tax dollars go to courtroom and incarceration costs if the students were sucked into the criminal activities in their communities.

"Instead, what we give them is a home away from home," said Pat Nizzi, the new director of the St. Charles campus.

Nizzi started out as a shop teacher in high school, but had dreams of teaching in an environment that wasn't satisfied with shipping kids out with diplomas that didn't mean anything because the students had been baby-sat more than prepared academically for the next step. Those thoughts naturally drew him to the more disadvantaged kids and schools with missions that centered on rescuing students with potential.

"Often these kids have been wounded in some way," Nizzi said. "It takes a lot of trust for a parent to send their kid here. Often it's a single parent who just can't spend the time with their child after school to help with homework because they have to be at work, or they are going back to school to be a better provider. We can spend that time with their child."

Nizzi comes to the campus with the goal of being an innovator. He has visions of exposing kids to the world through trips and hands-on activities rather than just books and dry erase boards.

He returned recently from a trip with students to the state capitol. Now he envisions more endeavors such as nights at the opera and soaking up the knowledge awaiting eager minds inherent in a trek to Washington, D.C.

But Nizzi doesn't just want to do more for the kids he has now, he wants to have more students to help.

The campus is operating at about half its capacity with 47 students. Administrators dream of growing that number to 120 students.

"We just want the community to be aware that we are here, and we are a resource," Nizzi said. "We want to do more for kids. Let us know where can we help; where can we serve."

For more information, visit glenwoodschool.org.