MOOSEHEART, IL - While there has been plenty of activity at Mooseheart's school this summer, almost none of it has involved children.

A summer in which considerable renovation work has taken place both inside and outside the school building faded into the background on Wednesday (Aug. 20) when the sound of youthful feet and the opening and shutting of desks and lockers replaced the noise of workmen's drills.

Wednesday marked the first day of school for 216 children who will call the Mooseheart school home for the next 10 months.

"It's been a long summer with regard to construction, but it's been a good summer with that also," Mooseheart Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler said. "Now we get to see the fruit of the labor from those people who put in a lot of time and effort into making our school look a lot more attractive."

The changes to the school have been extensive. A partial asbestos abatement was performed this summer. New carpeting adorns many classrooms and the school's main entrance is now tiled rather than carpeted. A sun-shading metal grillwork that was damaging the school's bricks on the school's south side was removed and aluminum panels now cover the brick.

"Hopefully, we've created a better learning environment so our students feel a sense of pride in their school and a sense that this is their school," Urwiler said.

Urwiler said a trip into the school even one week before the start of school would have left a visitor wondering if all the work would have been done on time. It was and the interior sparkled as the students entered on Wednesday.

Those students now begin their academic years, which end May 28, 2009. Urwiler said the year starts slowly but will build quickly.

"The biggest thing we focus on at this time with the Mooseheart Model of Care in the first week of school is to focus on our expectations and the procedures in how we do things in the classroom," Urwiler said. "We feel that the more time you spend on those expectations and the more time you spend on role plays and in practicing with the students, the more time you'll get to teach. It could be something about how to walk into a classroom, or how to be on-time, or what constitutes being on-time."

The pattern of the first week is the same whether the students are among school's seven kindergarteners or the 25 members who hope to graduate as members of the Class of 2009.

"Even though we have students who have been here for years, we want to re-establish our expectations and our procedures," Urwiler said. "All those skills that we hold so true to in the Mooseheart Model of Care, that's what we're doing these first few days."

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.3 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,800 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, religious and vocational training, and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org and www.Mooseheart.org or call 630-966-2229.