Dr. Denise Julius

Office of Specialized Services

Dr. Denise Julius
Assistant Superintendent of Specialized Services

 

Ms. Nicole Conway
Administrative Assistant

 

Special Education    English Language                                  Gifted       Early Childhood

 

“Students must become entrepreneurs of their own learning to ensure that they are college-and career –ready.”   Denise Julius, Ed. D.

 

As the Assistant Superintendent of Specialized Services for the South Holland School District 150, it is my honor to be a member of this great school community.  The South Holland School District 150 reflects an atmosphere, where the goals and aspirations are to prepare students for College and Careers.  I strongly believe in a child-centered approach to education, with the consistent theme of preparing student to be entrepreneurs of their own learning. 

My greatest initiative is to provide leadership that will facilitate an environment providing differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each student to the best of his or her ability, within the Least Restrictive Environment.  I believe students with exceptionalities should consistently be challenged to reach their fullest potential. 

Working collaboratively with parents, teachers, support staff, and administration, with the goal for students to become active learners with the desire for lifelong learning and achievement, is something I will be focusing on.  I strongly believe with a close and collaborative partnership, together we can make the South Holland School District 150 an even better place for students to learn, grow, and achieve. 

The South Holland School District 150 Office of Specialized Services provides a variety of services and placement continuum options for students:

  • Special Education
  • Early Childhood
  • Gifted
  • English Language Services

Special Education 

Our special education programs support the student by providing specially designed instruction and related services to students with disabilities. This allows students to develop college and career readiness skills, and achieve the same overall foundation for success as students in general education.   The department provides professional development for district support personnel in areas of state mandated training, best practices for instruction and specific areas of disabilities.

Additionally the department works collaboratively with general education programs and Intervention and Referral Services to provide early intervening services and reduce referrals with programs to assist students whose academic performance is negatively impacted by academic challenges. 

Early Childhood

South Holland School District 150 offers an integrated early childhood program at Greenwood Elementary School.   A child-centered, multidisciplinary team approach is utilized in providing services for children, three through five years of age with disabilities and non-disabilities. Our team of Early Childhood Special Education and Preschool Teachers, as well as related services personnel, provides specialized educational services to children in a variety of settings such as; our early childhood classroom and prekindergarten classroom, to meet the developmental learning needs of our young children.

Gifted

Students are entitled to an education that will maximize their learning potential and stimulate growth intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically.  South Holland School District 150 is committed to educational programs that provide opportunities for all students to fully develop their learning capabilities.

In this effort, South Holland School District is committed to recognizing, challenging, and fostering high student ability, achievement, and task commitment with Gifted Identified students.  South Holland School District 150 acknowledges that these students require intellectual stimulation and plan to provide differentiated instruction that is rigorous and challenging.

South Holland School District 150 does not offer a formal Gifted Instructional Program, but we do offer Academic Honor Classes taught by teachers who have been trained in Gifted Instruction.  The Academic Honors Program is available for students in grades 3-8. Greenwood Elementary and McKinley Elementary Honors Program follow a self-contained cohort group model, providing instruction in reading and math.  McKinley Junior High Program follows a departmentalized model, providing instruction in reading and math in grades six through eight.

English Language Services

South Holland School District 150 provides service to students who are identified as Limited English Proficient.  We want all English language learners to become competent in the understanding, reading, listening, speaking, and writing of the English language through the development of literacy and academic skills in grade level content areas.  The program focuses on:

  • Developing English skills while learning grade appropriate academic content.
  • Developing academic English language proficiency to assist students in meeting Illinois Learning Standards as well as the Illinois English Language Proficiency Standards.

Should you have questions, please feel free to contact the Office of Specialized Services, 708-339-8655.