Lakeview School: A History Lesson

The history of Lakeview School in Grayslake began in 1951 when a contest was held to name the Grayslake Grade School. One suggestion, according to former superintendent Eugene Davis, was Belly Lake after Belvidere Road and Lake Street.  

"With a very nice view of the lake available, the choice became quite obvious: Lakeview," wrote Davis in Memories of Lakeview School, a compilation of memories and recollections of the school, prepared by the

It was called Grayslake Grade School until Woodview School was built. Early history of the school in Grayslake notes a school was built of logs in the 1850s at what is now Lake Street and Belvidere Road. It was later replaced in the 1960s by a one-room school building. Frank Potter, who was born in 1871 recalls in his memoirs that he skated to and from school several times "when the ground was covered by solid ice."  

That building was moved in 1895 to Hawley Street where portions were used as the village hall and later the Grayslake Municipal Historical Museum. It was later remodeled and added onto and is now part of the Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum.  

After this building was moved to Hawley Street, a third building was built which still stands on the original site. There had been additions during the years and when the junior high, or middle school, opened in the fall of 1969, Lakeview School became a K-5 building.  

The Class of 1969 was the last eighth grade class to graduate from Lakeview School. The Grayslake Junior High School became the Grayslake Middle School in the 1992-93 school year. After the upper grades were taught at the junior high, the various grade levels in Lakeview School changed several times until it closed as a public school in the spring of 2002.   

With the population growth and the expansion of the population base throughout the school district, more schools were built and the Lakeview School building was no longer in the long range plans. After leasing the Lakeview School building to the Westlake Christian Academy for three years, the school district sold the building to the academy for $1.9 million. The academy, which was founded in Zion more than 35 years ago, outbid the First Rockford Group, a development firm that had planned to demolish Lakeview School for commercial use.   

After the sale, the foot-high letters, L A K E V I E W  S C H O O L, which had been removed from the front of the school building, were given to Jean Korell, former principal of Lakeview School and a member of the Grayslake Historical Society, who accepted them for the museum. The letters can be seen in the Annex of the

The hours are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and during the Farmers' Market on Saturdays and during other downtown Grayslake events.  The book, Memories of Lakeview School, an award-winning publication, can be purchased from the Archives of the Grayslake Historical Society.