Glenview offers many places to take driver’s education classes, including Adam’s School of Driving, Viking Driving School, Fresh Green Light, and South’s in-school program. 

Sophomore Alejandra Tran’s experience at Viking Driving School this past summer proved to her that driving school can be educational, but still fun. Tran’s driving instructor’s humorous characteristics made her lessons much more enjoyable. 

“[Sometimes my driving instructor] would make me stop at Jimmy John’s or the gas station to get food,” Tran said. “He was still a good instructor, [telling] what to do and what not to do on the road.”

The in-class lessons were two hours long twice a week, Tran said. In-car lessons at Viking were less structured and more for working on skills the students wanted to practice. Tran received her permit part-way through the class after taking a mandatory practice test her school sanctioned. 

“[The practice Learner’s Permit tests] helped me a lot because a lot of the practice questions that they gave us were almost identical to the ones on the driver’s test,” Tran said. 

Viking Driving School succeeds in creating a fun and calm environment where students do not need to be nervous for any lessons or driving scenarios, Tran said. Despite the relaxed atmosphere, the school’s lessons still left Tran well-prepared for her    future in driving, she said.

Sophomore Gretchen Williamson attended Adam’s School for Driving  this past summer and found her class fun because of her enthusiastic teacher.

“The teacher was [not] boring [and] made sure to incorporate fun activities [to] keep [the class] active,” Williamson said.

For Williamson, the most enjoyable part of driving school was in-car lessons. Not only did she learn a unique range of skills, she also practiced in a variety of different settings, Williamson said.

“You drive around Glenview, the city, highways, [and] side streets,” Williamson said. “It was like I was driving with a friend.”

South offers drivers education as an elective; around 200 students take the class each year, Adam Clendenning, Driving Instructor, said. South’s driver’s education classes are split into 45 minutes of an in-class lesson and 45 minutes of driving lessons during the school day,  Clendenning added. 

Class lessons are structured according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s driving standards. They are formatted so students can learn as much as possible before going behind the wheel, Clendenning said. 

In-car lessons focus on skills students’ struggle with. Their driving lesson hours can also be included into their driving hours log needed to get your driver’s license, Clendenning said.

Clendenning is proud of South’s Drivers Education program because of the in-depth instruction, he said.

“What we value in this department and what we try to accomplish [in this program] is more in-depth instruction than they would get in a private driving school,” Clendenning said. 

Sophomore Sabrina Biancofiore chose South’s program primarily because of the lower tuition. Although she does not find driving interesting, she finds the in-class portion enjoyable because each class brings something different, she said.

“You get to practice a lot more [consistently] compared to other schools [because class is every other day],” Biancofiore said.

Private driving school allowed for sophomore Madeleine Preston to fulfill her urgent need for a license. The availability of spots at South was hindering this process, Preston added.

“My twin brother and I do a ton of extracurriculars and my mom couldn’t drive us home from those,” Preston said. “We [wanted] to get [my license] as early as we possibly [could]’.”

Last year while attending Fresh Green Light, Preston found it difficult to schedule her driving lessons with the school. However, she still managed to finish them before her 16th birthday. Although she sometimes found class to be boring and redundant, she felt benefitted and prepared to get her license through Fresh Green Light’s instruction.

“I think Driver’s Ed [is] something everybody needs,” Preston said. “I like the freedom and the ability to take myself home from after school.”