The Orland School District 135 decides and carries out policies for 10 public elementary schools and junior high schools for students who live in Orland Park, Orland Hills and Orland Township. About 5,500 students attend District 135 schools between Kindergarten and eighth grade.
District 135 is managed by a superintendent with 10 staff members. A board of directors meets at least once month to make decisions about courses, personnel, maintaining school properties, finances and budgets. District 135 works to fulfill needs met by basic educational courses, such as English, math, social studies and science. But the district also works to supplement the basics with programs in arts, music, physical education, health and computer literacy through media centers within each school.
Simmons Middle School is one of five public schools in the Ridgeland 122 School District serving sixth through eighth graders. Simmons is a newly-built school that joined the district in 2008. The building houses an advanced computer lab, multi-purpose gymnasium that also functions as an auditorium, library, science lab, cafeteria and playground. A school nurse, social worker, reading specialists and instructional assistants are available to help children. Students have the opportunity to participate in activities ranging from fine arts to student council. An active parent organization strives to increase activities offered to students.
Lincoln-Way East, located in Frankfort, has been serving Mokena and Frankfort residents since 2000. With a large student population, East has a variety of resources, academic departments and extracurricular activities, such as writing and performing arts centers, pre-professional programs and more than 70 clubs. The athletics department boasts an array of sports teams, from baseball to badminton.
The school is one of four high schools in Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210, founded in 1954. The district has a history of high academic and athletic achievement. In 2009, it boasted two National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists and has outranked the state and the nation in SAT score averages for the past five years.
Most of Western Springs' K-8 students (all except those living in the Ridgewood and Timber Trails neighborhoods) are served by School District 101, which includes three elementary schools (Field Park, Forest Hills and John Laidlaw) as well as McClure Junior High. Brian Barnhart has served as superintendent since 2002. The district is extremely high-performing, and has ranked in the top 15 percent of the state for the past seven years (and the top 10 percent for five of those). The central office for all District 101 administration is located here, adjacent to Field Park Elementary.
Spanning more than 57 square miles in the Fox River Valley, District 303 serves more than 13,000 students from St. Charles and several surrounding communities. It has a dozen elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools. For the 2009-2010 school year, the district ran a balanced budget of a little more than $168 million.
Officials see the district as having a tradition of academic excellence in both its programs and faculty.
