Over the summer, West Chicago Community High School built a new center for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) aged 18–22.
The new facility, which replaced the school’s greenhouse, is called the Success Through Education Pathways (STEP) Center. Designed as an adaptive environment, it helps young adults develop life skills such as cooking, cleaning, and maintaining hygiene. The space includes a kitchen, dining area, seating area, bathroom, and laundry room. Once called the “Transition Apartment,” the facility was renamed to better reflect its purpose.
“So one thing: we’re not calling it an apartment, because an apartment has a bedroom, right? That doesn’t have a bedroom. We’re calling it the STEP Center. It’s kind of like a training center for them,” special education teacher Maggie Labuhn said.
The STEP Center prepares young adults for independent living and serves as a model to support their transition into daily life. It focuses on practical skills not always covered in the special education curriculum. All of the participants have already graduated from WEGO.
“They are students who’ve already graduated from age 18 to 22, and they have an IEP of some kind of special need, and we provide services. The state of Illinois has to provide services until age 22, and there has to be a space for them to go,” Labuhn said.
Under federal law, students with IEPs are entitled to receive special education services through age 22. Transition programs like the STEP Center are designed to meet that requirement while helping young adults prepare for independent living and employment.
The special education department is excited about the new space, though construction is not yet complete. Water lines still need to be connected, and several doors remain to be installed. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Tuesday, Sept. 16.
“I came from a therapeutic school in the city, and it’s helped a lot,” STEP Center learner Russell Gutman said. “I value the job practice more than some of the other things, like the in-class learning, but that does help too – especially the budget practice. I see some of the students really benefiting from the training, because some of them don’t understand as well.”
