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Discover Illinois schools and centers with individualized instruction, low student-teacher ratios, and integrated social-emotional support. Browse programs across 150 cities with 320 total programs.
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Cities with Schools in Illinois
Explore schools across 150 cities in Illinois. Use search to quickly find schools in your area.
Popular Cities
Cities with the most schoolsChicago
40Bolingbrook
9Blue Island
8Lake Zurich
7Belvidere
6Cary
6East St Louis
6Elmhurst
6All Cities A-Z
150 cities totalCities Starting with A
3 citiesCities Starting with B
16 citiesBarrington
1Bartlett
4Bartonville
1Belleville
1Belvidere
6Bensenville
1Berwyn
2Bloomingdale
1Bloomington
1Blue Island
8Bolingbrook
9Bourbonnais
1Bridgeview
1Buffalo Grove
1Burr Ridge
2Byron
1Cities Starting with C
13 citiesCahokia Heights
1Calumet City
3Carbon Cliff
1Carbondale
2Cary
6Caseyville
1Champaign
2Chicago
40Cicero
1Cottage Hills
1Country Club Hills
1Crestwood
1Crystal Lake
1Cities Starting with D
7 citiesCities Starting with E
8 citiesEast Moline
1East St Louis
6Edwardsville
1Elgin
2Elmhurst
6Elmwood Park
2Evanston
1Evergreen Park
3Cities Starting with F
1 cityCities Starting with G
12 citiesGages Lake
4Galesburg
1Geneva
2Genoa
1Germantown Hills
1Glen Carbon
1Glen Ellyn
1Glenview
4Godfrey
1Grand Chain
1Granite City
3Grayslake
1Cities Starting with H
8 citiesHanover Park
3Hawthorn Woods
2Hickory Hills
1Highland Park
1Hinsdale
2Hoffman Estates
1Homer Glen
6Huntley
1Cities Starting with J
1 cityCities Starting with L
13 citiesLa Grange
1La Grange Highlands
1Lake Forest
2Lake Villa
2Lake Zurich
7Lake in the Hills
2Lansing
2Lemont
1Libertyville
1Lincolnshire
1Lisle
2Lockport
1Lombard
1Cities Starting with M
14 citiesMacomb
1Matteson
1Maywood
1McHenry
1Millstadt
1Mokena
1Moline
1Montgomery
2Morris
1Morton Grove
1Mt Prospect
2Mt Vernon
1Mundelein
1Murphysboro
1Cities Starting with N
7 citiesCities Starting with O
5 citiesCities Starting with P
7 citiesCities Starting with Q
1 cityCities Starting with R
7 citiesCities Starting with S
9 citiesSchaumburg
4Shiloh
1Shorewood
1South Barrington
1South Holland
1Springfield
2St. Charles
1Streamwood
1Swansea
1Cities Starting with T
1 cityCities Starting with U
1 cityCities Starting with V
2 citiesCities Starting with W
13 citiesWarrenville
1Washington
1Waukegan
2West Chicago
1Westchester
2Westmont
2Wheaton
2Wheeling
3Wilmette
2Winfield
1Winnetka
1Woodridge
1Woodstock
1Cities Starting with Z
1 citySpecial Education in Illinois: What Parents Need to Know
Two things change how Illinois families should plan a search. First, Illinois runs its special education clocks on school days, not calendar days, so a request filed right before summer break can sit for months longer than the same request filed in October. Second, the state’s one private-school scholarship program, Invest in Kids, expired at the end of 2023 and was not renewed, so there is currently no state voucher or education savings account to help pay private tuition. That leaves the IEP itself, and a state-approved nonpublic placement funded through it, as the main route into a specialized school for most families.
We currently list 320 specialized schools and programs across 150 communities in Illinois.
Evaluation and IEP timelines in Illinois
Illinois measures its special education deadlines in school days, which only count while school is in session, so the same request can take noticeably longer if it lands in May than if it lands in September. Once you put an evaluation request in writing, the district has 14 school days to decide whether an evaluation is warranted and to notify you either way. If it agrees to evaluate, it still needs your signed consent before testing starts. From the date of that consent, the district has up to 60 school days to finish the assessments, determine eligibility, and hold the IEP meeting. After the eligibility meeting, the district must send you written notice of the team’s conclusions within 10 school days.
- 14 school days for the district to decide whether to evaluate after you request one in writing, and to notify you of that decision
- Written parental consent is required before testing can begin
- Up to 60 school days from signed consent to complete the evaluation and hold the eligibility/IEP meeting
- 10 school days after the eligibility meeting for the district to send written notice of the team’s conclusions
- Because these are school days, not calendar days, a request filed close to a long break effectively pauses until school resumes
How Illinois families pay for a specialized placement
Illinois does not currently have a statewide private-school voucher or education savings account program. The Invest in Kids Act tax-credit scholarship, which had helped fund private placements including some special education tuition, expired on December 31, 2023, and Illinois lawmakers declined to extend it. The Illinois Department of Revenue confirms contributions made after that date are no longer eligible for a tax credit. As of 2026, Illinois is one of the few states with no active private school choice program of this kind. For most families, that makes the IEP process itself the funding route: if a district determines through the IEP that it cannot provide an appropriate education in-house, it can refer and pay for a placement at a state-approved nonpublic special education facility under Section 14-7.02 of the School Code. For children under three, funding runs through Illinois’s Early Intervention (EI) Program rather than the school district or any voucher.
- The Invest in Kids Act tax-credit scholarship expired December 31, 2023, and was not renewed by the legislature
- Illinois currently has no statewide private-school voucher or education savings account program
- A district-funded nonpublic placement, arranged through the IEP under Section 14-7.02 of the School Code, is the primary route to state-supported tuition at a specialized school
- Families paying privately outside the IEP process are covering tuition on their own, through financial aid, or through a scholarship offered directly by the school
- For children birth to age three, contact Illinois’s Early Intervention (EI) Program through a local Child and Family Connections (CFC) office rather than the school district
Types of Special Needs Schools in Illinois
Not every placement type exists in every state. These are the settings families actually find in Illinois.
ISBE-approved nonpublic special education facilities
Schools approved by the Illinois State Board of Education under Section 14-7.02 of the School Code to accept district-funded placements for students with disabilities. Approval is specific to disability category and age range, and districts can only place and pay for a student at a facility approved for that student’s exact needs. Placement is decided by the IEP team, not by a separate application process, after the district determines it cannot provide an appropriate program itself.
Best for: Students whose IEP team has concluded that no less restrictive public-school placement can meet their needs, especially students with significant clinical, behavioral, or residential-level needs
Private day schools for learning differences
Independent schools built around dyslexia, ADHD, and broader learning differences, concentrated in Chicago and the surrounding collar counties (DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry). Families here are typically paying privately or through the IEP’s related-services process, since these schools are outside the state’s tuition-funded nonpublic list.
Best for: Students with average or above cognitive ability whose reading, writing, or attention needs are not being met in a general education classroom
Autism and developmental programs
Programs combining structured teaching, communication support, and behavior intervention, often paired with an on-site or partner ABA provider. Illinois’s 40 therapy-center listings overlap heavily with this category, and some families combine a school placement with a separate outside therapy provider rather than a single all-in-one campus.
Best for: Students on the autism spectrum who need a predictable, low-sensory environment and coordinated communication or behavior support
Therapeutic day and residential programs
Placements pairing academics with clinical counseling and behavior support for students whose emotional or behavioral needs have made a traditional campus unworkable. Many of the state’s ISBE-approved facilities fall in this category, especially in and around Chicago.
Best for: Students with emotional disabilities or a pattern of school refusal, suspension, or crisis that a district building has not been able to resolve
Illinois Special Needs School Questions
How long does an IEP evaluation take in Illinois?
Illinois counts the clock in school days, not calendar days. The district has 14 school days after your written request to decide whether to evaluate. Once you sign consent, it has up to 60 school days to complete testing and hold the eligibility/IEP meeting, then 10 more school days to send you written notice of the results. Because school days only accrue while school is in session, a request made close to summer break or a long holiday can take longer in real time than the same request made in the fall.
Can I use a state scholarship or voucher to pay for a special needs school in Illinois?
Not currently. The Invest in Kids Act tax-credit scholarship, which had helped some families fund private placements, expired on December 31, 2023, and the Illinois legislature did not renew it. As of 2026, Illinois has no statewide private-school voucher or education savings account program. Families paying for a private special needs school are generally covering it privately, through financial aid from the school, or through a district-funded placement arranged via the IEP.
Will Illinois pay for a private special education placement through my IEP?
It can, through a specific mechanism rather than an application to a program. If the IEP team decides no public-school setting can meet a student’s needs, the district can refer and fund a placement at a school approved by the Illinois State Board of Education as a nonpublic special education facility under Section 14-7.02 of the School Code. Approval is tied to specific disability categories and age ranges, so the district has to match the student to a facility approved for that exact profile. This is decided case by case through the IEP, not by a family applying directly to a scholarship fund.
Where are most of Illinois’s specialized schools located?
Listings are unusually spread out for a state this size. Chicago has the largest single concentration, but the remaining schools are distributed across roughly 150 other Illinois cities rather than clustered in one or two metro areas, with meaningful numbers in suburban and collar-county communities like Bolingbrook, Blue Island, Lake Zurich, Cary, and Belvidere. That spread means families outside Chicago proper often still have several options within a reasonable drive, and it is worth checking nearby suburbs as well as the nearest big city.
My child is under three. Do I go to the school district?
No. Children from birth to age three are served through Illinois’s Early Intervention (EI) Program, accessed through a local Child and Family Connections (CFC) office, not through the school district. The district takes over responsibility around the third birthday, and Illinois rules call for a transition plan to be in place with at least 60 school days’ notice before that birthday so services do not lapse.
Illinois Guides & Resources
Next steps for families comparing schools, requesting an evaluation, or working out how to pay for a placement.
How to request a special education evaluation
The written request that starts Illinois’s 14-school-day response clock, with wording you can adapt.
Read more →Complete IEP guide
What goes in an IEP, how to prepare for the meeting, and how a nonpublic placement under Section 14-7.02 gets decided.
Read more →504 plan vs IEP
Which one your child qualifies for, and why the distinction matters now that Illinois has no private-school funding program.
Read more →Choosing a special needs school
The questions to ask on a tour, including how to confirm ISBE approval for a nonpublic Illinois facility.
Read more →Early intervention guide
For children under three, including Illinois’s Early Intervention Program and the handoff to the district near age three.
Read more →ABA therapy centers in Illinois
Autism therapy providers across Illinois, useful alongside or instead of a specialized school placement.
Read more →Autism rates by state
How Illinois compares on autism identification rates, using federal data.
Read more →Restraint and seclusion by state
Federal civil rights data on restraint and seclusion incidents, including Illinois districts and Chicago Public Schools.
Read more →Sources for this page
- 23 Ill. Admin. Code 226, Special Education (Sections 226.110, 226.260, 226.330)
- Illinois Department of Revenue, Invest in Kids program status
- ISBE, Nonpublic Special Education Programs
- Illinois DCFS, Early Intervention Services for Children 0-3
- ISBE, Monitoring & General Supervision of Chicago Public Schools
State rules change. This page was last reviewed against primary sources on July 28, 2026. Confirm current requirements with your school district or the relevant state agency before making a decision.
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