About – Huntley Community School District 158

Our Mission:

Our learning community will inspire, challenge and empower all students always

Our Vision:

District 158, together with our community, leads by inspiring everyone to be:

Lifelong, self-directed learners who are active participants in an ever-changing world with the confidence to take risks and “fail forward”
21st -Century thinkers equipped with the skills of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration
Globally aware, ethical, empathetic, culturally responsible citizens
Champions of personal growth and development
Developers of today’s learners into tomorrow’s leaders.

Our Motto:

All Students Always

District Overview:

Located in McHenry and Kane counties of northern Illinois, Huntley School District 158 serves 8,400+ students in Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12, residing in Huntley, western portions of Lake in the Hills and Algonquin, and surrounding areas. The District employs more than 1,400 staff members and has been one of the fastest-growing school districts in Illinois over the past decade.

The District gained renown for its campus-concept idea, devised to accommodate the huge population growth it experienced in the 2000s. Over that period, the District transformed from a one elementary/one high school district to its current five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school, located on three campuses. Built between 1997 and 2005, all of the District’s schools were designed with a primary focus on technology in education.

Key Initiatives

Huntley 158 has been recognized as a leader at state and national levels for bringing innovation to K-12 education, while at the same time maintaining among the lowest per-pupil spending rates in all of Northern Illinois.

Blended Learning
The Blended Learning program at Huntley High School began in 2011 with about 100 students, and since then has grown to involve more than half of the school’s 3,000+ student body. Blended Learning leverages technology to transform the traditional classroom experience into a continuum of learning that combines online learning and face-to-face interaction.

This novel approach allows for increased differentiated instruction and ownership of learning. In other words, it gives students more control over the time and place for learning, more closely mirroring the type of schedules they’ll encounter in college and the workplace. In addition, students who can demonstrate mastery of course content aren’t forced to sit through unneeded face-to-face class period, and are free to use that time for other, more pressing needs. Conversely, students who require more one-on-one time with teachers can get it by meeting with teachers during times when the whole class is not meeting.

This innovative program is breaking down the barriers of the traditional school day and leveraging technology to help students learn better. As a national pioneer of this increasingly popular approach, the District has been recognized in a national peer-reviewed journal, CNN, Parenting Magazine, the Pearson Education Blog, and other media.

Learn more about Blended Learning on the HHS Blended Learning page.

1:1 Initiative
Huntley 158 was among the first large unit districts in the state to implement a 1:1 initiative, equipping every student in grades k-8 with a personalized learning device. In the first four years of the program, elementary students received tablets. In fall 2016, all students at Huntley High School received a Chromebook, completing the District’s 1:1 rollout and cementing its status as the largest fully 1:1 unit district in Illinois.

Learn more about the 1:1 Initiative »

High School Academies

Huntley High School has been among the nation’s leaders in implementing advanced curricula from Project Lead the Way (PLTW). The school has implemented these cutting-edge offerings through specialized academies within the school, to which students can apply for admission.

Medical Academy
The HHS Medical Academy was envisioned to provide students excellent preparation for college programs and careers in the health sciences. It first offered courses in 2011, using PLTW biomedical curricula as its foundation. Since that point, the academy has grown to become the state’s largest provider of PLTW biomedical curriculum, offering a dozen courses spanning several interdisciplinary subject areas.

The District is in the process of finalizing agreements with colleges and universities to offer credit and/or scholarship incentives to students who earn a certificate or transcript designation for coursework completed in the Medical Academy.

In the summer of 2015, the District took another bold step in the advancement of the Academy, announcing a partnership with Northwestern Hospital Huntley (formerly Centegra Health System) to create a high school residency program, wherein Medical Academy students will receive intensive job shadowing and real-world experience in Northwestern facilities. The program, believed to be the only of its kind in the country, began in fall 2016.

The Youth Residency Program has been hailed in national media including an Associated Press article syndicated in print, online, TV, and radio media across the U.S., as well as a feature on Chicago’s own WGN TV.

STEM/Engineering Academy
The District also offers a slate of PLTW STEM/Engineering courses in its newly established Engineering Academy. The Engineering Academy is designed to build STEM Literacy and 21st Century Skills. In it, students learn through problem-based, real world applications of STEM concepts.

In all STEM Academy Courses students will work through the engineering design process to apply their knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The goal of the STEM Engineering Academy is to prepare students for the 21st century and have our students one step ahead in the ever-changing global economy.

Academic Performance

Each year, the District is required to disseminate an annual report card that includes information on the District as a whole and each school served by the District, with aggregate and disaggregated information for each required subgroup of students including: student achievement on academic assessments (designated by category), graduation rates, district performance, teacher qualifications, and other information required by federal law.

Illinois School Report Cards
District and School Report Cards

Advanced Placement Experiences
In an effort to both prepare students for college-level learning and to enable them to gain college credit for courses taken in high school, the District has made increasing opportunity and achievement in Advanced Placement courses a priority.

Huntley 158 has been regularly recognized on the AP Honor Roll. The honor recognizes districts for increasing access to AP course work while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams. The score of 3 is generally the minimum required to receive college credit.