Glenbrook Elementary School renovation up for vote as part of major U-46 construction changes
The Streamwood Village Board will vote Thursday on proposed renovations to Glenbrook Elementary School, part of sweeping construction upgrades at various Elgin Area School District U-46 schools.
Glenbrook, at 315 Garden Circle, originally was built in 1971.
U-46 Chief of Staff Brian Lindholm said it is in need of updates.
“Part of the problem with the current layout of Glenbrook is there really are no hallways, and the circulation is really poor,” Lindholm said. “So, in many cases, you have to walk through one classroom to get to another, and then many of those interior rooms have zero natural lights.”
The renovation would include gutting the existing instructional area of the building, constructing new classrooms, adding a courtyard and creating a six-room wing for preschool.
“There would be some rooms that would be specially constructed for our youngest learners, including a gross motor play area for them to do physical activity during the day,” Lindholm said.
The district estimates the project will cost around $30 million. Lindholm said preparation will begin in early 2026 before the school shuts down next school year for the renovation.
Glenbrook students will report to Hanover Countryside Elementary School in Streamwood for the 2026-27 school year. That building is scheduled to close after this school year and no longer will house its existing students.
The project is part of a massive, districtwide effort to move sixth-graders into middle schools, and provide elementary schools with better facilities that would include preschool education, Lindholm said.
According to U-46’s website, the process began in early 2020 when the district hired design firm DLR Group, as a partner to assess infrastructure, classrooms, facility use and efficiency to understand what was needed to accomplish its goals.
To transition sixth-graders out of elementary buildings and into middle schools, U-46 renovated the 58,000-square-foot Hawk Hallow Elementary School in Bartlett. That project included building a 92,000-square-foot addition completed this summer.
Formerly an elementary school for 25 years until its closure after the 2022-23 school year, the improved Hawk Hollow welcomed its first seventh grade class this year. It will have students in grades six through eight the following school year.
A new middle school in Elgin is under construction and will open near Hilltop Elementary in 2027. The district also is in the process of renovating Kimball Middle School in Elgin and Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin. Both projects are scheduled to be finished by next August, according to Lindholm.
Other schools getting face-lifts are Century Oaks Elementary and Illinois Park School, both in Elgin. Illinois Park, which now serves as an early childhood education center, will be converted into an elementary building.
“They host pre-K across the district, and that is going to be turned back to an elementary school,” Lindholm said. “Instead, we’re going to try to push out more pre-K classes in our elementary buildings across the district.”
These projects are funded by existing reserve funds and $179 million in voter-approved construction bonds.
After this school year, Washington and Lowrie elementary schools, both in Elgin, also will shut down due to declining enrollment.
“We shifted our attendance boundaries across the district to allow us to operate more efficiently and run fewer schools,” Lindholm said. “But the schools that we are going to keep, we need to invest in.”