Columbia College of Missouri in Crystal Lake is one of four of the Illinois Campuses. It is one building with several classrooms inside as well as a study area, vending machines, and a computer lab. Columbia offers mutiple bachelor degrees, but specializes in business degrees. It also has associate and master degree programs.
Creative Artistry is a fine arts school for all ages and abilities. The instructors work from real life, photographs and on location, when possible. Creative thinking, application of art elements and problem solving goes into every piece. Artists learn and progress through the creative process from realism to abstract and everything in between. Financial aid is available only to those who qualify.
Ed Kulach, the owner of Kids R Kids, is proud to say that business is "the Taj Mahal of private preschools." One look around the place, and parents are bound to agree with him. Serving children from 6 weeks old to 12 years, KRK is the first of its kind in Illinois but there are 170 other locations in the United States.
KRK features bio-metric log-in so parents know their children are completely safe. Parents can also log into a website for live streaming of what their kids are doing. KRK offers an intensive curriculum and a bus to local schools. There is also a Smart Board, an interactive whiteboard the children will be able to use with their teachers.
The McHenry County Music Center, which was founded in 1980, is now located in the historic Dole Mansion. Classically decentralized, yet conveniently accessible, the center is home to youth orchestras, group and private music lessons, and a plethora of music studios. Once the home of Crystal Lake's own Dole family, the mansion still retains it's Victorian era feel with modern cultural overtones. Additionally, all sorts of art-related disciplines can be found here.
First Institute Healing Arts Center is located in the Crystal Lake Office Park center, First Institute Healing Arts Center is well-known throughout the community for its relaxing and inexpensive massages offered to the public by its current students. It also offers financial aid programs to prospective students who qualify as well as gift certificates for customers interested in getting a massage.
Dolphin Swim Club is a learn-to-swim facility where children are taught to swim in small groups, so each child can get the necessary attention and instruction. Dolphin Swim Club also offers water aerobics classes and adult swim classes. The club also hosts birthdays parties and other events.
Soldner Fine Art Studio is owned by artist Jeanine Hill-Soldner--it is a full working-artist studio hosting original paintings, drawings, commissions, portraits and landscapes, often in oil and acrylic mediums. Art classes are available for junior high-aged students to adults.
First United Methodist Preschool is a part of First United Methodist Church, a congregation of about 1,500.
The preschool boasts a teacher-to-student ratio of 1-to-6, keeping two teachers in each classroom, which averages about 12 students per class.
Being connected to the Methodist church, the school offers daily prayer, Christian curricular topics and monthly chapel times.
All staff have several years of Early Childhood Education and each staff member gets recertified each year in CPR and First Aid.
The preschool offers convenient pick-up and drop-off procedures to make the process easier for parents of young children.
Located in Crystal Lake and formerly the Northwest Community Music Academy, Encore Music Academy offers children and adults lessons, classes, and choirs in guitar, violin, piano, flute and voice. Encore Music Academy also offers private lessons, performances and events.
Northwest Suburban Driving School is located in downtown Crystal Lake. The easiest way to find it is to park behind the building; the door is at the rear of the building. The driving school will provide the potential driver with the Illinois state-required 30 hours of classroom teaching. You can choose from four- or five-week courses. The course also includes 12 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction and observation. Please see the Web site for further details.
Prairie Ridge High School opened its doors in 1996. The school serves more than 1,700 students from many area towns, including Crystal Lake, Bull Valley, Prairie Grove, Oakwood Hills, and Ridgefield.
The school sits on a large, open campus which holds a number of football fields, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and other areas for outdoor activities. Prairie Ridge offers a number of activities for its students, including clubs, student council, band, chorus, and athletic teams. The school's mascot is the Wolves, who compete in the Fox Division of the Fox Valley Conference.
Prairie Grove School District 46 is composed of two schools housing approximately 1,000 students. Prairie Grove Elementary serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade. This school employs more than 60 staff members and offers a number of activities such as Spanish, Young Rembrandts and Mad Science. Prairie Grove Junior High School serves students from sixth to eighth grades. The school offers a number of extracurricular activities such as drama, newspaper and choir. The Panthers compete in a variety of sports including basketball, volleyball, track & field, soccer and cheerleading. Victor Wight is the principal of the elementary school and Chad May is the principal of the junior high.
Opened in 1978, Crystal Lake South (CLS) High School serves almost 2,000 students, making it the largest school in District 155. CLS's students come from Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills and Lakewood.
The school was given the Outstanding Service Award in 2006 by the National Honor Society for its Operation Heifer Project. The project raised $7,000 to purchase livestock for underprivileged villages throughout the world.
CLS's teams compete in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference. The Gators won the IHSA state title for boys golf in 1980.
