Illinois School for the Deaf

The Illinois School for the Deaf, founded in 1839, is a state-supported public school for students who are deaf and hard of hearing ages three to twenty-one. Residential facilities are available to those students who live outside of a 25 mile radius of the school.

The vision of the Illinois School for the Deaf is to educate students to become responsible, self supporting citizens. Our schools will be safe learning communities that encourage students to attain their highest potential in reading, writing, and mathematics. We will empower our students to explore the technological trends and the employment opportunities of the future. We will achieve this through:

• Providing a safe, healthy, and respectful learning, living, and work environment.
• Using each student's unique educational and developmental needs documented in Individual Educational Plans to guide their educational program.
• Respecting all forms of communication and technology for deaf and hard of hearing students.
• Providing an instructional program for deaf and hard of hearing students that is most effective when guided by the Seven Principles for Student Success (Freeman & Freeman, 1998.)
• Providing a supportive and caring atmosphere in order to develop a positive self?esteem and skills necessary to be successful in an ever-changing world.
• Serving the community as an informational resource in current trends and research in the field of deaf education and American Sign Language.
• Sharing the responsibility of educating our students between the parents, students, school and residential personnel and the community.
• Providing an accessible bilingual communication environment.