Former CUSD 10 principal transforms Marine Diner into school
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The Marine Diner will be repurposed into the Nurture School for students with special needs. (Photo by Devese “Dee” Ursery)
By Devese “Dee” Ursery
A Marine eatery whose doors were closed for good in 2022 is being repurposed into a school for children with special needs.
Chris and Carmen Loemaker, owners of the building formerly known as the Marine Diner, will now be dedicated to educating those children who are facing behavioral barriers to learning.
After the owners of Millie’s Diner closed its doors in 2019, the Loemaker’s purchased the building and opened the Marine Diner in October of 2020. The couple subsequently closed the doors again in 2022 after some plumbing issues.
Carmen Loemaker, a former 24-year educator explained the change of direction from diner to school.
“I have been a public-school principal for the last 16 years and I have seen an increasing need for placements for elementary students with social emotional needs,” Loemaker said. “There are very few schools that accept elementary students and even fewer with a truly therapeutic approach.”
According to Loemaker, the school will be named The Nurture School. The school will be a private facility meant to serve public school special education students that have trouble getting through the day of a traditional public-school setting.
Loemaker said the school’s name is based on the vision and mission of nurturing the students’ individual needs with therapeutic interventions and eventually return to a public school environment.
Loemaker said that she started out as a teacher for Maryville Elementary and then was promoted to vice principal at Dorris Intermediate and Renfro Elementary. “I became principal at Webster Elementary and was able to return to Maryville as principal 11 years ago,” Loemaker said.
Loemaker said that in order to open her school she had to have a degree in administration and special education certification. She also has a master’s degree in elementary education. Loemaker added that they are in the process of repurposing the building to adhere to the needs set forth by state board officials.
“When we started things out in 2020, like any other restaurant during that time, we thought we’d get through COVID and get back to normal,” Loemaker said.
Loemaker said staffing issues, along with inflation, in regards to supplies necessary with running a restaurant, were costly and hampered their plans of reopening. The couple decided to go in a different direction after a major plumbing disaster forced them to shut the building down for good.
“Chris went in found a flooding, ruined equipment and severe damage to walls and the ceiling,” Loemaker said. “It took the whole winter to get contractors lined up for extensive repairs. In the meantime, I had seen the need for ways to support children; and we decided to go a different route and put the building back together as a school instead of a restaurant.”
“We are now in the process of adapting the building to meet the needs of the program as well as completing the required documentations,” Loemaker said. “There are inspections and paperwork to be approved by the Illinois State Board of Education as well.”
Loemaker said the school will be scheduled to open as soon as they complete all of the required inspections and get approval from the ISBE.
“We hope to be ready to take students in August or early September of this school year,” Loemaker said. “School hours will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The shorter school day is beneficial to students that struggle with a long day in terms of academic and social demands.”
Loemaker said that the school will be fully staffed to handle 30 students. They plan to hire three teachers, three intervention specialists or assistants, as well as additional health care attendants. She also said they will contract with other services like social work, speech therapy, occupational and physical therapies as well. The school will also have breakfast and lunch served to the students.
“I would love to find a music therapist, art therapist and I am hoping to add chiropractic care,” Loemaker concluded.
Loemaker said eligible students must have an Individualized Education Plan underlining certain types of disabilities. The IEP team must determine that the Nurture School is the placement to best fit the child’s needs.
“The curriculum will be tailored to meet individual needs, based on their IEP,” Loemaker said. “We will not rely on technology, but build relationships with students, working with them in person, not putting them on Chromebook.” Loemaker continued. “Obviously, academics are important for every child, but the focus of The Nurture School will be emotional regulation.”
According to Loemaker, The Nurture School will teach all of the traditional subjects such as math, reading, science and social studies.
“The difference is that we focus on therapy and creating a small calm environment. We will complete work in small increments between therapeutic interventions,” Loemaker said.
In the same way that the Loemakers opened the diner to give back to the community, so too was the reason for the opening of the school.
Loemaker is seeking to hire more educators and assistants and is asking all interested to email her at carmen@thenurtureschool.org.
“I am looking for certified special education teachers and assistants with a passion for providing a nurturing environment for young children,” Loemaker said.
