A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday for an elementary school located at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, but the school is not just for military families.
The new Forrestal Elementary School is designed to mimic a children's storybook, taking not only the students but their families on a journey that is safe and welcoming for those that serve the country.
It's a new era for families at living at Naval Station Great Lakes.
"If you're planning for a year or plan to garden, planning for a decade, plant some trees, planning for a lifetime, build a school," Illinois 10th District U.S. Brad Schneider said.
That's what they did. With a grant from the Department of Defense, the new $72 million building will hold up just over 600 students K-5, meant to make them feel like they are inside a storybook.
"That counselor ring, those memories, that have signaled on campfire we're in the cafeteria now, which is like sitting in a meadow," architect Josh Bergman said. "There's the gym, which is inspired by the Great Lakes."
"I love the foresting over there because, like, I love exploring," 8-year-old Forrestal student Eliana Castro said.
For Castro, whose mom and dad have served, the building brings out a new level of excitement to learn, but also can meet her exactly where she is.
"Sometimes I love making friends, but sometimes I'm really shy," Castro said.
Each room comes with a sensory space, designed to be intimate and restorative. It's an important value for military families that typically have to move every few years.
"Even as an adult, changing commands, I had fewer anxiety so having children, I can't even imagine what they might be feeling having to switch schools," Eliana's mother Jasmin Castro said.
It's a massive upgrade from the old building next door.
"It was built in the 1950s. Children couldn't drink the water in the school, because of the lead in the pipes," D187 Superintendent John Price said. "For our families, again, that place of stability and comfort, it's a home away from home."
And it is also a way of saying thank you to those who protect us.
"It's 1% of the population that joins the military," Jasmin Castro said. "To really acknowledge just something so small, as you know, creating a school for the kids to be able to stay I don't take it for granted."
Forrestal Elementary will officially open its doors to students in mid-August.