Special Education Co-Op Breaks Ground For New Therapeutic Center

BURBANK, IL — Representatives from the four founding schools of the AERO special education cooperative on Monday were joined by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and other elected officials at the groundbreaking of a new facility set to open two years from now at the site of the former Queen of Peace High School in Burbank.

Argo, Evergreen Park, Reavis and Oak Lawn high schools are the founding schools involved with the program that serves special needs students in much of the south suburbs. The name, AERO, is an acronym that includes the first letter of all four schools. The program has since expanded to include all feeder schools for Argo, Evergreen Park, Reavis and Oak Lawn, now encompassing 11 school districts.

The AERO Therapeutic Center will be a 150,000-square-foot, 2-story building with two courtyards, wheelchair accessibility and two elevators at the site of the former Queen of Peace High School at 77th Street and Linder Avenue. When it opens in the fall of 2023, it will be the first time in the special education’s cooperative’s 58-year history in which all AERO students will be under one roof.

“AERO students and staff need a new school that is fully accessible, safe and conducive to learning,” said James Gunnell, executive director of special education for AERO. “AERO’s current schools and learning environments are not fully accessible.

Gunnell added that the current facilities are “small and overcrowded with students and equipment.”

But the new AERO Therapeutic Center will not only address those needs, it will give AERO the one of the largest special education facilities in Illinois.

It will “allow for the expansion of programs and services to meet our current and future needs of serving students with emotional and mental health needs,” Gunnell said. “The number of students identified as having adverse childhood experiences is exploding. The new AERO Therapeutic Center will serve future students with disabilities and families for the next 50 years.

Pritzker said he’s “proud Illinois is investing $25 million for a new AERO campus that matches the quality therapeutic and educational services they provide.”