About Us

At NewHope, we provide students with a small, safe, and supportive educational environment where we treat them with respect and protect their privacy.

Academic and personal success at NewHope is based on:

• Appreciation of individual differences and development of individual goals
• Discovering student's strengths and understanding challenges in learning how to advocate in an effective manner
• Helping students build resiliency to be successful in college and beyond

NewHope West and East Campus are therapeutic day schools serving internalizing students in need of additional support. Since its inception hundreds of students have utilized our program; many of them returning to their home schools full-time and achieving success in college.

Accreditations

• Approved by the Illinois State Board of Education
• West Campus in Arlington Heights services students in grades 6-12 with Emotional Disabilities, Autism, Learning Disability, and Other Health Impairments
• West Campus in Arlington Heights also has an Extension of Services program (EOS) for 17 to 21-year old students to bridge the gap from high school to college/career success
• East Campus in Glenview services students in grades 9-12 with Emotional Disabilities, Autism, Learning Disability, and Other Health Impairments

NewHope Memberships

Illinois Association of Private Special Education Centers (IAPSEC)
National Association of Private Special Educational Centers (NAPSEC)

Staff Memberships to Organizations and Associations

American Psychological Association (APA)
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
Council for Exceptional Children
Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI)
Illinois Art Education Association
Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
​Illinois Principal's Association
​Illinois Psychological Association (IPA)
Illinois School Counselor Association
National Association of Social Workers
National Council for Social Studies
National Council for Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
National Science Teacher Association (NSTA)
Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society
Phi Delta Kappa Inc.
Psi Chi: The International Honor Society in Psychology

Other Staff Achievements

Illinois Holocaust Museum Educational Advisory Board
Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers Program 2014 Fellowship
National Certified Counselor
Nefesh Chicago Board Vice President
Student Leadership Day Coordinator 

Coordination of care is extremely important and necessary for success at NewHope.  Many students come to NewHope with outside professionals supporting them.  This may include therapists or psychologists, psychiatrists, group therapists, tutors, and possibly educational advocates.  In the best interest of the student, and to promote coordination of care, our staff will ask parents and students to sign releases allowing open communication. When the student's team communicates often and openly, it aides in the educational decision making and treatment planning process for the student and family.  

Academic Foundation 

• Teaching staff hold LBS1 designations, certified in subject content, and/or have support staff certification

• Academic integrity is maintained by meeting Common Core Learning standards

• Student-based and interactive classroom environment

• Tools that develop executive functioning and organization skills

• Student accommodations based on strengths and needs

• Active case management that maintains ongoing contact with parents and home school

Executive Functioning

NewHope students need assistance with organization and executive functioning skills on a daily basis. Executive functions are necessary for goal-directed behavior. Skills we work on at NewHope include the ability to initiate and stop actions, to monitor and change behavior as needed, and to plan future behavior when faced with novel tasks and situations.

Case Managing

When a student is accepted to NewHope, we take responsibility for case managing the student. All students at NewHope are assigned a case manager. Following a 45 to 60-day assessment period, the case manager, in cooperation with the therapist develops an IEP utilizing input from NewHope staff and current testing. The following is a list of duties of a NewHope case manager:

• Initial Assessment and Needs Analysis
• Monitoring Student's Progress
• Communicating Progress
• Creating IEPs and Attending IEP Meetings

Therapists at NewHope Academy are diverse in their therapeutic orientation, which includes Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), Psychodynamic, Family Systems, and Integrative therapies. In addition to working with adolescents and families, therapists at NewHope are quite diverse in multiple areas of expertise that includes:

• Generalized Anxiety
• Depression and Mood Disorders
• School Refusal/Avoidance
• Social Anxiety
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Phobias
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Complex Trauma, Personality Issues
• Self-injury
• Eating Disorders
• Meditation and Mindfulness
• Social Skills
• Executive Functioning Deficits
• Behavioral Problems
• Interpersonal Relating
• Bowen Family Systems
• Skills of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Psychological, Neurological Cognitive, and Personality Testing

We also maintain regular communication with outside professionals to aide in the student's progress.

When a student is accepted to NewHope, NewHope takes responsibility to provide appropriate and efficient mental health care within an educational setting. All students at NewHope are assigned a therapist. 

Following a 45 to 60-day assessment period, the therapist develops a comprehensive initial therapy report (with social emotional IEP goals) that includes the social and developmental history of the student. Therapists develop this report in cooperation with input from NewHope staff, reviewing student files, conducting parent interviews, and observing the student within the school environment.

The following is a list of duties of a NewHope therapist:

• Therapy services (individual, group, and family)
• Monitoring students within the environment
• Communication of the student's emotional needs