New K-12 school in Warrenville redesigns education around who children can become and what they can do with what they know.

WARRENVILLE, IL / ACCESS Newswire / August 18, 2026 / Orion STEM Schools today announced the founding leadership team guiding the development and opening of its new K-12 school in Warrenville: Selvei Rajkumar, Founder and CEO; Asuttosh Rajkumar, Co-Founder and Director; Delphine Lenoir, Chief Admissions Officer; Erica Koegel, Chief Experience Designer; and Sarah Batzel, Lower School Designer.

Orion is being built around a central question: If a school is supposed to prepare a child for the future, what should it look like? More than a traditional school, its model is a learning ecosystem that connects rigorous academics with personalized mastery, interdisciplinary learning, human-centered design, entrepreneurship, and problem-based experiential learning, held together by meaningful feedback and caring relationships. Orion's promise is to know every child deeply and prepare them fully, academically, emotionally, and ethically, so they discover who they are and who they can become.

"We are not asking children or teachers to work harder inside a structure built for another time. We are redesigning the structure itself," said Selvei Rajkumar. "Children deserve wings, not ceilings. At Orion, knowledge must lead to capability, curiosity to inquiry, feedback to growth, and belonging to the courage to take intellectual risks."

Orion is also a multigenerational undertaking. Selvei Rajkumar founded the school with her son, Asuttosh, bringing together Selvei's educational vision and organizational experience with Asuttosh's entrepreneurial, operational and systems perspective.

"Redesigning education requires operations, technology and educator workflows to support the same promise," he said. "We are creating systems that support educators, provide clarity for families and give students greater ownership of learning."

Lenoir will lead admissions and enrollment. "Families are choosing a community that will know, challenge and guide their child," she said. "At Orion, belonging begins with the first conversation and the first moment a family feels heard."

Koegel will guide the student, family and educator experience. "A mission becomes credible through the experiences people have," she said. "Our responsibility is to make Orion caring, joyful and purposeful from end to end."

Batzel will lead Orion's Lower School. "In my years in education, I have seen nothing like what Orion is building," she said. "It is designed to benefit students while giving teachers the clarity, collaboration, time and support they need to do exceptional work."

Pedagogy Preview Night

Orion will host a virtual Pedagogy Preview Night on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. CT, giving prospective families and community members an inside look at how the school is redesigning education around children, educators and the future they will inherit.

Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HOQ0pfDzQSW2CQYeu0Nt0w
Questions: 855-457-7275

Applications for 2027-28 open Sept. 1, 2026. Orion will welcome students in kindergarten through grade 9 in summer 2027.

About Orion STEM Schools

Orion STEM Schools is a private K-12 school being developed in Warrenville, Illinois. Its human-centered model combines rigorous academics, personalized mastery, interdisciplinary learning, design, entrepreneurship, student agency, and authentic problem-solving. Its brand promise, Character. Purpose. Imagination. Mastery reflects what students know, who they become, and what they contribute.

Discover your spark. Light the world.

SOURCE: Orion STEM Schools



View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

COMTEX_490941057/2457/2026-08-18T12:42:03