The Education Foundation supports students within the Niles Township borders. Any student in need has the opportunity to approach the Education Foundation, often through a school counselor, for financial assistance.
Niles Township has a population of approximately 106,000 people. Niles Township High School District 219 serves students in the communities of Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles and Skokie.
District 219 includes nine elementary school districts, each with its own superintendents, principals and boards. These nine school districts send their students to Niles West or Niles North High Schools. Some students attend Niles Central, which is a therapeutic day school.
The district has had a number of significant successes in the arts and sciences. In 2007, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts named District 219’s arts education program the best in the nation, the first time a general education high school district won that distinction. The now-closed Niles East High School is alma mater to two Nobel Prize winners: H. Robert Horvitz, who won the prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Martin Chalfie, who won in Chemistry.
Niles North and Niles West serve approximately 4,800 students. Niles Central has approximately 64 students. The district is known for its ethnic diversity, with more than 90 languages spoken by its students. Six out of 10 students report speaking a language other than English at home.
We have hundreds of students in Niles Township whose families are in serious financial need. We know of many students who cannot participate in school activities or pay for class expenses.
The public may be shocked to learn that 33 percent of the students who attend Niles North and Niles West live near or below the federal poverty level. These students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and some cannot afford basic necessities, including food or a warm winter coat. They also cannot afford the basics needed to receive a good education, like graphing calculators and laptops. At present, 50 students in our district are homeless.
Despite these challenges, our schools – in partnership with donors – enable students and their families to overcome enormous odds. Through education, aid and your charitable giving, the children and youth of our community succeed academically and later in life.
Granola bar drop off at Madison School, District 69, courtesy of a grant to The Education Foundation from the Niles Township Government
