Community Consolidated School District 64 Park Ridge-Niles Elementary
District Description: District 64 serves grades K-8 in Park Ridge and a portion of Niles, IL. These suburban communities are located 15 miles northwest of downtown Chicago and just 10 minutes from O’Hare Airport. Approximately 4,300 students attend one of five elementary schools, two middle schools, and an early education center. District 64 is routinely recognized for high quality educational programs and services, and has been awarded the Bright Red Apple Award by School Search, Blue Ribbon Award and Emerson Middle School is one of only a few AIMS Demonstration Schools in Illinois.
Of the 4,300 students, 91% are white, 4% Hispanic, 4% are Asian and 1% are black, 1% are low income and approximately 18 percent special education. Between 1 and 2% are limited English proficient, and bilingual backgrounds are largely Spanish and Eastern European. Over 90% of District 64 students attend Maine Township High School District 207 schools. The district is a member of Maine Township Special Education Program (MTSEP), which provides a range of supplementary/related services to our schools. Information about the district’s mission, strategic plan and programs are available on the district website: http://www.d64.org
Internship Description: The School Psychologist Intern will provide a range of professional services and have experiences to enhance skills in areas including, but not limited to, assessment (i.e., cognitive, social-emotional, academic, CBM, progress monitoring groups/individual students, FBA, etc.) and counseling with children K-8 as well as high school students during 1 day/week at high school setting (i.e., individual, group, collaboration with outside professionals as needed, and crisis intervention). Consultation through participation on school problem solving teams (i.e., Pupil Service Team, IEP Teams, etc) as well as an opportunity for system level consultation through participation on a team responsible for district special education service model and assessment practices (i.e., emerging RTI practices, etc). Consultation and assessment opportunities are also available at our preschool early education center as well as with district children being educated at special/therapeutic day schools.
The typical week includes 2 days at Emerson Middle Schools, 1.5 days at one elementary, and one day at high school setting. The high school rotation will include at least 25 to 35 days at Maine East High School working with an experienced, bilingual psychologist. Maine East High School’s student population is more diverse in regard to bilingual backgrounds and ethnicity than District 64. Summer months include individual assessment for gifted/early entrance students, district/system-level projects such as data management of CBM data, planning for implementation of behavioral supports such as PROJECT RIDE and collaborative work with the special education director related to special initiatives and staff development.
The intern will provide staff development in collaboration with the psychologist team on various topics. The intern will be a member of apsychologist team that meets periodically to review cases and collaborate on projects (i.e., one Master’s level school psychologist, one Ed.D., NCSP school psychologist, and an Ed.D. supervisor). We individualize the internship plan to address areas of personal interest such as preschool, involvement in prevention programs, intervention programs for special populations such as emotional disability, autism; district CBM benchmarking data management, etc.
Supervision is collaborative, collegial, and developmental in that the intern will experience increasing levels of independence as the school year progresses. Supervision provided during scheduled, individual times as well as through co-facilitation and debriefing of counseling and consultation experiences. Supervision is provided by Bill Connor, Ed.D., NCSP, Licensed Clinical Psychologist.
The intern receives stipend of $ 12,000 with no benefits. Forty-hour workweek is individually arranged but typical hours are from 7:30 to 4:00. The internship begins mid to late August. Additional paid assessment work, while limited, is available for district gifted testing on the weekends during the spring. An iBook Laptop (MAC OS 10) is provided by the district during the internship year. Professional development though district-funded workshops is provided throughout the school year.