Maryville Students Reap from What They Sow
From the traditional tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, beans and cucumbers, to herbs and summer fruits - including watermelon, cantaloupe and a strawberry patch - all of them were planted and tended by the students. The garden is part of a horticulture therapy program at Maryville’s Jen School, which opened three years ago and offers adolescent boys therapeutic and educational services in a residential setting.
Eileen O. Daday
Daily Herald
Jen School Cookbooks For Sale!
Help support the Maryville Jen School by purchasing a cookbook,
Therapeutic educational services in a hands-on learning environment
At our Jen School, on our Des Plaines campus, we provide adolescent males, ages 12-21, with integrated therapeutic and educational services. The school serves children in Maryville’s residential programs and students from the community with complex emotional, behavioral and learning disabilities. The Maryville Jen School staff uses hands-on, alternative and experiential teaching methods in conjunction with traditional instruction methods to maximize the student's potential for success.
A Relational Teaching Model
The Relational Teaching Model is one that is built on mutual respect between student and teacher. It emphasizes and builds on student strengths, thus fostering a sense of accomplishment and fueling the student’s desire to learn more. This is especially important for students who have failed to thrive in other academic settings.
Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment Program
To encourage lifelong learning and develop the skills needed, the Jen School is the first special education school internationally to employ the
Social Emotional Learning
Integrated into the core curriculum at Jen School is the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum. Social workers, counselors and psychologists are part of the classroom team working with students and teachers to utilize coping strategies, manage emotions and complete assignments. The team recognizes that the stress of deficits in math or reading can lead to emotional crisis. Students are taught how to manage these frustrations whether working on math or in stressful family situations. Learning is not only about academics, it is about life.
Cooperative Teaching Methods
Our teaching methods are interactive and cooperative, allowing each student to add value to the classroom experience. Students learn to work together on a team both inside and outside of the classroom.
An Integrated Learning Experience
The Maryville Jen School offers a fully-integrated program of classroom education, experiential learning, vocational training and recreational activities to its students. Our teaching staff coordinates with our therapeutic staff to ensure that our students make advancements.
Jen School is an Alternative Therapeutic Day School approved by the Illinois State Board of Education. Jen School is also accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA). 
Thank you to recent donors Altria Companies Employee Community Fund, Dr. Scholl Foundation and Donald P. and Byrd M. Kelly Foundation for their generous grants to Maryville Jen School.
Farm Stand Tended by Teens with Disabilities
ABC Channel 7's Karen Meyer recently visited the Des Plaines Campus and the Jen School farm. To see video of that story,
click here.
For an interesting, succinct and informative video by Harvard University on the brain development of young children, click here to view "Brain Hero".
For referral information, please use the contact information below:
Contact Information:
Maryville Jen School
1150 N River Road
Des Plaines, IL 60016
Phone (847) 390-3020
Fax (847) 294-1738
Chief Academic Officer - Ann Craig, M.A.Ed.
847-390-3030
Principal - Catherine Bogacki, M.S.W.
847-390-3032
