Building a ‘Legacy’: U-46 adopts new Elgin middle school name suggested by teacher who just received kidney transplant

Elgin Area School District U-46’s new 193,000-square-foot middle school under construction in Elgin will be called “Legacy” honoring those who have contributed to the district, including the teacher who came up with the name and recently received a kidney transplant.

Katie Pappas, 41, of West Chicago, a health and physical education teacher at Timber Trails Elementary School in Hoffman Estates, started brainstorming names for the district’s new middle school to keep her mind off the wait for a new kidney.

Eighteen months ago, Pappas went into kidney failure for the second time after having gone through a transplant surgery nearly a decade ago. She continued teaching at U-46 while undergoing a grueling regimen of dialysis treatments and awaiting a transplant.

Her thoughts often drifted toward what she would leave behind, “not knowing the future and how much time I had left,” she said.

“You really do think about your own mortality … one of the main things I would think about is what’s going to happen when I’m gone. What did you do to make a difference? Did you touch enough lives?” said Pappas, formerly of Streamwood. “What it comes down to is … what was my legacy going to be?”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250428/news/community-rallies-behind-u-46-teacher-in-urgent-need-of-a-kidney/

Upon her students’ urging, Pappas answered the district’s call for nominations to name the new middle school in Elgin, where eventually many of her students will attend.

Her idea to name it “Legacy” stemmed from a desire to encompass and recognize everyone who has made a significant contribution to the community and district. It won students over and garnered support at a public town hall in October.

“When I thought about that word, it just made so much sense to name a school that because you can inspire so many kids and encourage them to make their own mark,” Pappas said.

Pappas got her long-awaited transplant wish on Oct. 23 when a kidney from a living donor arrived on a red-eye flight from California. And on Monday, she watched from home as U-46 school board members unanimously approved naming the new building Legacy Middle School.

“To have something so positive happen in the midst of utter chaos in my life … it’s a really big deal,” Pappas said. “This once-little idea that everybody rallied around, it’s now going to be a place! Legacy represents everything I love about U-46: growth, perseverance, connection, and leaving the world a little better than we found it.”

Still in recovery, Pappas hopes to be back teaching at Timber Trails in six to eight weeks.

Meanwhile, work on the $110 million Elgin middle school project, which began in April, is on track thanks to “a really awesome stretch of weather,” said U-46 Chief of Staff Brian Lindholm.

“We’re going into this winter in very good shape,” he said.

The school at 2604 Rohrssen Road is expected to be ready for occupancy in August 2027. It will have a capacity for 1,125 students.

Legacy Middle School is the first middle school built in Elgin since 1959. It will play an important role in U-46’s shift to a middle school model with grades six through eight housed together, using space in elementary schools to expand early childhood programs, and replacing or renovating older elementary schools.

Since Legacy won’t be ready for next school year, the district plans to house the more than 1,000 students who will be assigned to it elsewhere. Legacy’s sixth graders will go to Abbott Middle School and seventh and eighth graders will be at Ellis Middle School, both in Elgin, next school year, Lindholm said.

“We decided to keep those two schools open … one more year to help us get through this transition,” he said.

Both Abbott and Ellis will close after the 2026-27 school year.

When it opens for the 2027-28 school year, Legacy is expected to welcome 1,100 sixth, seventh and eighth graders. The building will include state-of-the-art science labs and flexible learning spaces. To build on its name, a “legacy wall” is planned outside the school’s main office to celebrate local people who have contributed to U-46 and its middle schools.