Township High School District 113
Deerfield High School and Highland Park High School
District 113 is located in the north suburban area of Chicago. It is comprised of two high schools in Highland Park and Deerfield. District 113 strives to create caring learning communities that recognize relationships as the foundation of learning. The district has a long history of excellence in education. Education is highly valued by the communities of this district. Parents are very active in every aspect of our schools. More than ninety-five percent of graduates go on to college after graduation. The structure of the district is site -based decision making with a central administration committed to supporting building based programs and initiatives. Information about the district's mission, long range plan and guiding principles are available on the District 113 website (http://www.dist113.org/) We are a member of the North Suburban Special Education District (NSSED) which provides a range of supplementary/related services to our schools, as well as, programs for students with moderate to severe disabilities.
DEERFIELD HIGH SCHOOL The village of Deerfield is located east of I-294 and west of I-41. It is bordered to the south by Glenview and to the north by Lake Forest. Of the 1,500 students, 86.9 are white, 1.4% are black, 8.5% Hispanic, 3.2% Asian, 8.8% Low Income, and 16% Special Education. The psych-social staff is part of the Special Education and Counseling Departments. There are two full time psychologists in the building. One of whom is a Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist. The psychologists' responsibilities include individual and group counseling, intervention and consultation with staff and parents, consultation with special and general education programs, crisis intervention and diagnostic assessment. An intervention based, problem-solving process is used to identify students with learning or adjustment difficulties. The problem solving teams meet twice weekly and are comprised of guidance counselors, social workers, psychologists, educational diagnosticians, deans, school nurse and administrators. A flexible service model is used to address individual student needs. The Learning Assistance Program provides organization and study strategies, and addresses issues of work completion. An intervention team of psychologists and special educators also provides school wide consultation and collaboration.
Students with psych-social needs receive direct individual or group counseling. Focused groups are formed each year according to needs assessment. Usually groups are offered to address freshman transition, eating disorders, divorce, COA, recovery, depression, grief & loss, gender issues. The Reaching Out Program works with students who have been hospitalized or received in-patient substance abuse treatment to coordinate discharge planning and transition back to school. It also provides ongoing counseling to these students and their families.
HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL Highland Park High School serves Highland Park, Highwood, and Fort Sheridan. All of these communities are east of I-41 and border Lake Michigan. The high school has a diverse student body of approximately 1,700 students. The demographic distribution is 80.0 % white, 2.1% Black, 14.6 Hispanic, 3.2 Asian, and 15.6% low income, and 16% Special Education. About 80 students are from military families stationed at Great Lakes Navel Base.
Two District programs are housed at Highland Park High School. A bi-lingual / ESL program as well as transitional academic courses are available for students for whom English is an emerging language. A Life Skills program provides community based learning for students with moderate and severe developmental disabilities.
There are three full time school psychologists at Highland Park High School. Two of the psychologists are responsible for consultation/collaboration with special education programs, providing individual and group counseling, serving on the student problem solving teams, and completing diagnostic evaluations. One psychologist, who is bi-lingual, serves as an intervention specialist. The primary responsibility of the Intervention Specialist is to provide school-wide consultation and develop intervention plans.
Highland Park High School has a unique model for providing mental health services to students. It offers a Bridges-Puentos program, which is available to all Hispanic students. It focuses on cultural and personal issues, as well as future planning. The Connections Program provides support through staff led student focus groups, including girls' issues, divorce, COA, recovery, gender issues, depression, grief and loss. There is a full range of personal, academic and college counseling through the Guidance Department. A Drop-In Center is open throughout the school day for students to receive staff and peer support services, as well as crisis intervention. The Drop-In Center is staffed with school personnel, as well as mental health professionals from the Jewish Children's Bureau. Other services in the school include peer mediation, social work services and transition to high school for freshmen and transfer students. A problem solving process is used to identify students with interferences with learning. The problem solving teams are made up of the intervention specialist, counselors, deans, school nurse, psychologists, social workers, educational diagnosticians, and administrators. The teams meet twice a week to plan and review interventions. A general education support program, Academic Assistance, provides organization and study strategies, monitors student progress and assists with work completion.
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At both schools many students receive private counseling/medical treatment outside of school. School and private providers collaborate and develop plans for coordinating services. Some of the community agencies interns will have the opportunity to work with include the Joslyn Clinic, Lake County Mental Health Services, and Highland Park Hospital Adolescent Psychiatric in-patient and outpatient programs, Department of Child and Family Services, and the court system.
All interns engage in a diverse array of experiences, the amount of time an intern spends in each of the abovementioned activities depends largely on the needs and desires of the intern. Internship plans may also be customized to include activities that are unique at either high school or NSSED. District 113 provides extensive professional development to staff. All staff development is based on the premise that educators are life-long learners. Principles of adult learning guide our professional development. Interns are able to participate in any of the in-service programs, action research, collegial learning groups, professional conferences and workshops offered to the faculty. They also will have the opportunity to facilitate or present at district professional development programs. Through NSSED, interns have access to professional development in the areas of Flexible Service Delivery/Problem-Solving, autism, Curriculum Based Measurement, Kansas Learning Strategies, etc.
The intern receives a stipend of $16,000. The intern's workweek of 40 hours is individually arranged but typically occurs between 7:00 and 4:30 PM. Both schools offer a rich array of extra-curricular activities and athletic programs. Interns may apply for activity sponsor and coaching positions as positions as they are available.