U-46 marks firsts and lasts as school year begins

More than 33,000 kindergartners through seniors and transitional students returned to classrooms Monday across Elgin Area School District U-46 schools for the first day of classes.

Yet, Monday also marked the last first day at three U-46 schools — Washington and Lowrie elementary schools, both in Elgin, and Hanover Countryside Elementary School in Streamwood — that will close at the end of this academic year.

U-46 — the state’s second-largest district — now has 38 elementary schools after closing two buildings over the last couple of years. The district will close these three elementary schools, bringing down the total to 35 in the 2026-2027 school years.

Both Lowrie and Washington date back to the late 1800s.

“We are the ones who will get to write this final chapter, and we will make sure it’s one worth rereading,” Washington Elementary School Principal Ryan Corcoran told students and staff before the start of classes Monday. “We are committed to honoring the incredible legacy of this school.

“To our staff and students — you will be the last to leave your touch in this historic place. And to the generations before us — you built the foundation we stand on today. That foundation was shaped not only by the traditions we carry forward, but by the people who made them possible.”

Built in 1891, Washington’s original bell was out front and each student tapped it on their way in, then high-fived Corcoran.

Some teachers have been at the school for more than 20 years.

“Being the last principal at Washington, to me, just means honoring everybody who’s walked here before us, and also honoring that legacy that is Washington,” Corcoran said. “My promise to our staff and our community is that we really want to make this year a year like none other.”

Corcoran said to anyone who has “ever graced these hallways or supported this community … you will always be part of that Falcon family.”

The closure of these elementary schools is the result of U-46 consolidating buildings. The district has begun design work on several projects, including building a new elementary school in Elgin, conversion of Illinois Park School in Elgin from an early childhood center to a full elementary building, and major renovations and additions at Glenbrook Elementary in Streamwood and Century Oaks Elementary in Elgin.

Elsewhere in the district, work began in March on a 46,000-square-foot addition at Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin. The $30 million project will increase the school’s capacity to 1,125 students and is expected to be complete by August 2026.

Construction also began in April on a 53,000-square-foot addition at Kimball Middle School in Elgin. The $25 million project will increase that school’s capacity to 1,125 students and will be ready for occupancy in August 2026.

The district also is building a new 193,000-square-foot middle school at 2604 Rohrssen Road in Elgin. Work on the $110 million project began in April, and the school will be ready for occupancy in August 2027. It will have capacity for 1,125 students.

Meanwhile, renovations of the 58,000-square-foot Hawk Hollow Middle School in Bartlett including building a 92,000-square-foot addition were 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 Monday. It will have students in grades six through eight the following school year.

With $53 million in upgrades, Hawk Hollow now has capacity for 750 students. New features include dedicated science labs, flexible classrooms, staff planning areas, a new cafetorium with a full-service kitchen, dual gyms, performing arts spaces, and rooms for culinary arts, band, choir and music.

Abbott and Ellis middle schools, both in Elgin, will be closed with Hawk Hollow’s construction now completed.

The improvements were funded through the district borrowing $179 million in bonds that voters approved in April 2023 and using some of the $100 million from reserves and another $100 million in working cash bonds and debt certificates, officials have said.

Among the goals of the referendum was moving 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.

Illinois Park Center for Early Learning in Elgin, currently dedicated to preschool education, will reopen next school year as an elementary school to give students in the area access to more modern learning spaces, officials said.

Preschool students will return to classrooms on Monday, Aug. 18.

• Daily Herald staff writer Rick West contributed to this report.