Quest Academy's reopening plan drawing interest in Palatine

An independent school for gifted children in Palatine has a reopening plan that's attracting interest from parents who typically send their children for public education, its officials said.

Quest Academy, which serves students in prekindergarten through eighth grade near Northwest Highway and Benton Street, will have three attendance options when classes resume, including in-person learning, Head of School Jacque Negus said.

Quest has a 17-student maximum per classroom and had an enrollment of about 230 for 2019-20.

“The phone is really ringing,” Negus said Thursday. “We're really getting a lot of inquiries right now.”

Negus said the three choices Quest is offering are designed to allow all students to continue their learning without interruption. Quest's plan comes at a time when many schools are developing reopening plans that are more restrictive.

In-person attendance at Quest will include safety protocols such as wearing masks, sanitization, small groups, frequent use of outdoor space and temperature scans upon arrival. Officials said Quest already has intentionally smaller classroom sizes and an expansive outdoor campus with several activity areas.

Another option parents can select is virtual attendance. Those students will be part of a classroom through a video conferencing and participate as if they were there in person, following the same schedule as their peers on campus.

Negus said parents and teachers are supportive of the plan.

“We have not had one teacher who has said they don't want to come back (for in-person classes) again,” she added.

Laura Nadeau, an upper elementary team leader, is among the teachers looking forward to seeing her students when school begins Aug. 26.

“I like the fact that the kids who choose to stay at home are still dialing in and doing virtual attendance,” she said.

Nadeau said she intends to hold some fifth-grade classes outside with the children keeping a social distance from each other. Plans call for Quest's early childhood classes to be under tents on the academy's 2-acre west campus, which includes raised gardens maintained by the students, a soccer field, basketball court, amphitheater, nature walking path and an environmental science study section.