District 159

The district boasts an award winning band and choir program, three ISBE Honor Roll Schools, a National Champion Heritage Bowl tradition, a fiber optic technology network, and numerous South Suburban junior high school athletic honors among its outstanding programs. Among the teaching staff, the district has a National Board Certified Teacher, a Golden Apple teacher and Those Who Excel honorees recognized by the state of Illinois, as well as teachers that have become highly sought after to speak at state and national conferences on topics such as student literacy and technology. Forty-three percent of the teaching staff in Dist. 159 hold a masters degree or higher. The average teacher in Dist. 159 has been working in education for 15 years. The District reaches out to all students of all ages and talents and their families by providing the best educational programs and environments possible. The Birth to 3 program seeks to help families give their youngest children the best start for learning. Pre-school programs are located in two of the grade schools serving students throughout the district. Art, music, physical education, and technology are core programs in all schools. The middle school offers foreign language and speech, in addition to a solid core curriculum. A full range of special education services are available to all students. Teachers, psychologists, nurses, social workers and administrators work together to provide students with the most current and effective techniques to design an individual educational program to fit their needs. The District 159 technology program gives all staff and students the capability to access the network from any computer with Internet access. This basically gives everyone a 24/7 learning / working environment which is truly unique. Each school has a computer lab, as well as mobile labs of laptop computers . All learning spaces have wiresless accessibilty. All classrooms are equipped with interactive white boards. Interactive white boards, help to fully engage students by offering hands-on learning. The district is going into its third year (2017-18) of a five year 1:1 initiative, the initiative will provide every student with a mbile computing device. About the District