Grace Holistic Center for Education Has New Home
As of April 2021 the school building at 201 Garden
St., Yorkville, belongs to Grace Holistic Center of Education. Tairi Grace, a clinical licensed social worker who
began the school six years ago in a building in a Yorkville industrial park, said the owner of their previous facility sold it, and they had to move. “We had to find somewhere that was zoned for a
school, and at first we couldn’t find anything,” Grace recalls. “A move to a nearby community would have affected too many of our parents and staff. We wanted somewhere in Yorkville and then we found this building that used to be the Kendall County Special Ed Co-Educational Building.” Grace said
the new building is a definitive improvement. “Te other
building didn’t have any windows and it was in an industrial area, but it served its purpose at the time. Here we have a nice, huge, grassy lot, and a nice space for gardening. It’s a perfect space for us.” Grace said that although the Covid pandemic has
adversely affected many businesses and schools, it caused alternative schools to grow because parents were looking for smaller class sizes. To help parents feel that their children would be safe, she said the school purchased a high quality filtration system for the entire building, did thorough cleaning, and provided more individualized school supplies for the children. With a staff of nine teachers, the school offers all academics, in addition to a sustainability program that studies water quality, soil and composting and partners with the Yorkville Chamber’s Green Committee to find places to plant trees and flowers. In the mindfulness program, the school’s social workers and interns teach children emotional, mental, physical and spiritual wellness. On Fridays kindergarteners through 12th graders take life skills or creative expression, where they practice skateboarding, culinary or martial arts, fashions design, and robotics. “We also partner with Fur Angels,” Grace said. “We
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Te newly purchased school building at 201 Garden St., above, and , left, students in a robotics class. Photos provided by Lesli Gresholdt
have a pet therapy room. We foster the animals until they find their forever homes. Children can pet them and they have chores to take care of them. It teaches empathy and responsibility.” Grace said she is big on supporting the community, and offers the school to local non-profits who need meeting space.
For more information on the school, or the planned
Summer Camp to be held June 13 to Aug. 5, call 630-881-1095 or go to the website:
ghcfe.org.
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