OAK PARK, Ill. (WGN) – The International Mansion, the home of the Language and Music School, has the look of an enchanted castle.
“The kids feel like they are at the X-man school, or Hogwarts,” said Brando Crawford, the school’s co-director.
The 120-year-old Tudor revival home holds something even more magical – an alternative learning environment for students with unique gifts.
“In public school I was pushed to the point of breaking, and I’m not anymore,” said Gene Kozak Ferry, a 16-year-old with autism who is also a member of Mensa, the international society for individuals with high IQs.
“People sort of see capability as this line, and what happens is I show up seemingly on both sides of the line,” Ferry said. “I can be really incredibly capable in some areas, but other areas I am not nearly as capable.”
The school was founded by Maria Emilia Fermi 30 years ago in Oak Park.
“Every child has a gift that they can share,” Fermi said.
She owns and runs the school with her son, Brando Crawford.
“I think a lot of schools either prioritize academic challenges, or engagement and fun,” he said. “It feels like it’s one or the other and our hypothesis was, ‘We can do both if we start pairing students by interest and not by age.’”
The school serves students from kindergarten through high school. Full-time tuition is more than $2,600 a month, but each student receives financial aid.
“It’s really expensive to run our programs, but that doesn’t stop us from accepting any student with any need,” Crawford said.
In science class, the instructor Maria Rogacheva has a Ph.D. in chemistry. She teaches students who range in age from 7 to 15 – all at the same time, conducting experiments designed to engage everyone. The students, however, answer questions tailored to their level of learning.
“I think it’s really cool we’re not forced into learning what we’re supposed to learn, like at our ages,” said Mika Schwartz, a student.
Rogacheva also teaches the school’s Russian language course.
Equally versatile is Xxavier Jenkins, who teaches both art and karate.
Elsewhere, the students surrounded by sculptures in rooms wrapped with rich wood paneling, have the freedom to read and roam.
“It’s kind of homey, it just feels like a second home at this point,” said Avery Smart, a student at the school.
The school specializes in language immersion and many students study more than one.
“I do Spanish, Russian, Korean, and we had a Chinese class,” Smart said.
They also focus on social and emotional learning with collaborative games in which each player inhabits a character helping to create an ongoing story.
“It’s like our version of a club,” Smart said.
The year-round school is also open afternoons and evenings for private tutoring and music lessons. The magic of the mansion, making a school feel like a home.
“It’s like home school but at school,” Ferry said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
