School District U-46 officials broke ground this week on an addition that will expand the size of Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin.
“As a former Kenyon Woods mom, it’s an honor to be here,” School Board President Melissa Owens said at the Wednesday event for the building project, one of several being launched by the Elgin-based school district.
The 46,000-square-foot expansion is expected to cost about $30 million and, when complete, will allow the school to hold up to 1,100 students in grades 6 through 8.
Currently the building has an enrollment of 749 seventh- and eighth-graders, according to the most recent Illinois Report Card. As the district makes the transition to housing all sixth-grade classes in its middle schools starting in the 2026-27 academic year, it’s implementing an ambitious plan to close some schools, expand/renovate others and build new ones.
Owens said the new addition’s design also will reflect a change in how they approach education by teaming students in groups of 100 to 150. Those teams will learn together from a core group of teachers.
Ann Williams, deputy superintendent of operations, said site work on the Kenyon Woods project will begin next week, when students are out on spring break, but major construction will not begin until summer. The addition is scheduled to be ready for the 2026-27 school year.
A $25 million, 53,000-square-foot addition to Kimball Middle School in Elgin will start construction following a groundbreaking ceremony set for 4 p.m. Monday, April 7. When ready for the 2026-27 school year, it also will be able to house up to 1,100 students.
A third groundbreaking will take place at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, for a new 193,000-square-foot, $110 million middle school at 2604 Rohrssen Road, Elgin. It too will hold up 1,100 students when ready to be occupied in the 2027-28 school year.
Hawk Hollow Middle School in Bartlett, formerly known as Hawk Hollow Elementary, is undergoing $53 million in expansion and renovation work and will be available for seventh-graders this August. When work is complete, the 150,000-square-foot building will house 750 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students in the 2026-27 school year.
Kenyon Woods principal Lisa Olsem is moving to Hawk Hollow Middle to become its principal, U-46 officials said. Rebecca Gabrenya, currently principal at Marquardt Middle School in Glendale Heights, will take over the helm at Kenyon Woods at the start of the 2025-26 school year, according to the school’s webpage.
The Hawk Hollow project is being funded with money from the school district’s reserve fund. The three other middle school projects will be funded with money from a $180 million bond sale approved by voters in April 2023.
Another $200 million in reserve and operating funds, along with grant funding, will help pay for the three middle school projects and others, including planned construction of a new elementary school on the former David C. Cook property on Elgin’s east side.
At the Kenyon Woods groundbreaking Wednesday, Superintendent Suzanne Johnson once again thanked voters for approving the referendum and those who took part in listening sessions that helped shape the district’s plans and priorities.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
