Waukegan Education, Waukegan Public Schools, Waukegan Private Schools, Waukegan School District

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Waukegan Education

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Quality education is a priority in Waukegan. Knowledgeable, caring faculties, an active school board, and involved parents work together to provide an academic environment conducive to learning. A well-rounded curriculum emphasizes traditional as well as contemporary learning skills to prepare students for the future.

The Waukegan Unified District #60 serves approximately 16,300 students in kindergarten through grade twelve, as well as pre-school and alternative schools at the high school level. There are 23 individual school programs in the district, including a pre-school, 14 elementary schools, five middle schools, a ninth grade campus, a 10-12th grade senior high school and two alternative-type high school programs.

The school system offers a wide array of special services to ensure that every student has the opportunity to reach his and her educational potential.

These services include programs in special education and overcoming learning disabilities, bilingual education, as well as programs for children who qualify as gifted and talented.

In order to reach those children who benefit from alternative teaching styles, Waukegan public schools infuse technology into the classroom to enhance the learning of all students. Classroom technology incorporates Leap Pads for teaching, reading, using the Internet to do research, real-time video streaming and instant classroom assessment.

The high schools offer college preparatory courses as well as opportunities for vocational education. The city’s fine educational system prepares its students well for post-secondary educational success and the average ACT composites are consistently higher than national averages. A wide range of activities are also available, from clubs to sports, including boys’ and girls’ soccer, cross-country, boys’ and girls’ golf, football, girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ swimming, and boys’ and girls’ basketball.

New to Waukegan is St. Martin de Porres High School (SMdP), which opened its doors on August 23, 2004. As a member of the national Cristo Rey Network of high schools, SMdP offers an affordable college preparatory curriculum, which combines classroom learning with professional work experience in a faith-based, intercultural, and family atmosphere. Modeled after the highly successful Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, SMdP requires students to work one day a week in the Corporate Internship Program in order to offset the majority of their tuition. This work-study program gives families who would otherwise not have the financial means the opportunity to send their children to an academically rigorous, college-prep Catholic school.

In addition to three other private schools, a number of preschools and several day care centers are also available.