‘Built with love’: New school building for blind, deaf students takes flight

From a sensory “egg chair,” to a tactile clue that lets blind students identify their classrooms, to separate floors for learning and living, the Philip J. Rock Center and School has arrived.

State leaders, advocates and students celebrated the opening of a new facility in Glen Ellyn for children who are both deaf and blind or have a combination of visual and auditory impairments on Monday.

It’s just a stone’s throw from the former location at a one-time nursing home “that was falling apart,” and opened in 1980 on top of Baker Hill, DuPage County’s highest point.

“This is truly a building built with love,” Executive Director Bonnie Jordan said.

“This new facility is more than brick and mortar. It symbolizes hope, progress and a renewed commitment to providing our students with the environment, resources and opportunity they need to thrive.”

The project was built in part through state funding.

“You won’t find anywhere else like this,” Gov. JB Pritzker said at a ribbon-cutting event that included students. “This is the only publicly funded residential school for deaf-blind children in the entire nation and that says a lot about who we are as a state.

“These programs are about building confidence and forging a path toward independence,” he added. “The work being done here truly does transform lives. Beyond the instruction and activities, this is a place to find and foster community.”

The new center includes dormitories on the first floor for students and classrooms on the second floor. There are also after-school activity rooms, a basketball court and specially equipped outdoor playground.

The idea for a specialized facility was triggered by a nationwide outbreak of rubella (German measles) in the 1960s, that caused an increase in children who experienced health challenges, such as deafblindness.

The original school opened in Chicago in 1978 but moved to Manor Convalescent Center in Glen Ellyn in 1980. That effort was spearheaded by former Illinois Senate President Philip J. Rock, whose family attended the opening Monday.

“He did consider this to be his greatest achievement in his 22 years in the Illinois Senate,” son Jay Rock said.

The convalescent center “was a great building; it was well-maintained but it was really wasn’t right for the kids,” Jordan recalled. “It was retrofitted, it wasn’t wheelchair-accessible, (and) we didn’t have a sprinkler system in the old building.”

Now, “we’re in the 21st century rather than the ‘60s. It is actually what I wanted since 2018. What I dreamed of. Our kids could live at home and go to school and have it separated.”

Features such as tactile objects on the walls outside classrooms that students can touch to identify locations are key to encouraging independence, said Marcia Vankley. Her daughter, Angelina Roeters, 20, has attended Rock Center since age 9.

At first, Vankley thought plans for the new building were “pie in the sky.”

“Now that we see it in the flesh and are experiencing it, it’s like a dream come true. Everything is under one roof, everything is modern, everything is accessible and it’s just awesome,” she said.