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Best Special Needs Schools in Round Lake Beach, Illinois (2026)

Compare 2 special needs schools in Round Lake Beach. Explore the ranked list and find a program that feels right for your child.

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School listings in Round Lake Beach

1

Peppermint Stick Children's Center

Listed
Round Lake Beach, ILGrades PreK-5Tuition-based

Peppermint Stick Children's Center has served families in Lake County since the 1960s. We are a private early care and education center in Round Lake Beach, enrolling children from six weeks old through school age. Our infant room cares for newborns through 14 months, with separate areas for sleeping, playing, eating and diapering and a primary caregiver for each baby. Infant teachers hold Infant and Toddler Credentials and CPR and first aid certification, and a nurse practitioner is on staff. Toddler and preschool classrooms use Creative Curriculum, and lessons follow the Illinois State Board of Education Early Learning Standards across language arts, math, science, social science, physical development, fine arts, foreign language and social-emotional growth. Our school-age program provides transportation to and from local schools during the academic year. Parents get updates throughout the day through our family app, and our leadership team brings more than 120 combined years of early childhood experience.

  • Private early learning and childcare center
  • Infant and toddler care
  • Creative Curriculum
  • Private school
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2

Round Lake High School

Listed
Round Lake Beach, ILGrades 9-12Tuition-free

Round Lake High School is the high school of Round Lake Area Schools District 116, and our Special Services department offers several distinct programs. Our life skills program serves students with significant cognitive, adaptive, communication or academic needs through a functional curriculum, community-based learning, time with general education peers, and work placements on our Coffee Cart and with local business partners. Learning Appropriate Behaviors (LAB) provides the general education curriculum in a more structured setting with point sheets and behavior levels, and our cross-categorical instructional program adds vocational training through Panther Work Crew while students meet all graduation requirements. Academic interventionists work with students one-on-one and in small groups in reading and math. Career and technical education courses include introduction to engineering and design, robotics and automation, engineering design and development, photography and a digital arts capstone. We offer English as a New Language classes and the Seal of Biliteracy. Students can join our marching band, which competes at the Illinois Marching Band Championships, jazz band, Rhapsody a cappella choir, speech team, scholastic bowl, eSports, chess and bass fishing. A student health and wellness center serves our campus.

  • Public high school (grades 9-12)
  • Intellectual disability
  • Emotional/behavioral support
  • Career and technical education
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Planning guides

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IEP process guide

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Comparing school options in Round Lake Beach

Round Lake Beach hosts much of Round Lake Area Schools District 116, including Beach, Raymond Ellis, Village and W.J. Murphy elementary schools and Magee Middle School, and its teens attend Round Lake High School. Peppermint Stick Children's Center on Cedar Lake Road cares for children from infancy through school age.

Round Lake High School enrolled 2,226 students at about 14.4 per teacher in 2023-24. In 2021-22 federal civil rights data, 259 of its 2,213 students had IEPs and 60 had 504 plans.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Special Needs Schools in Round Lake Beach

Is there an autism classroom in Round Lake Beach schools?
Yes. Raymond Ellis Elementary on Central Park Drive houses three of D116's Educational Life Skills classrooms, and one of them targets students with autism who need intensive language supports. ELS rooms keep students in a self-contained special education setting for most of the day with a functional, modified curriculum, while including them with peers where the IEP allows. Placement is an IEP team decision, so raise Ellis at your child's meeting if it sounds like a fit.
What special education programs does Round Lake High School offer?
RLHS runs three main programs. Educational Life Skills builds a functional academic curriculum around independence, with community-based learning plus coffee cart and Work Crew placements with local businesses. Learning Appropriate Behaviors (LAB) serves students whose behavior needs call for a more restrictive setting, using point sheets and level systems. The cross-categorical Instructional program adds vocational training through the Panther Work Crew, and its students meet every regular RLHS graduation requirement.
What happens after Round Lake High School for special education students ages 18 to 22?
RLHS graduates ages 18 to 22 can continue at the Round Lake Transition Center at 801 Sunset Drive. The center offers job exploration counseling, work-based learning, counseling on post-secondary education, workplace readiness training and self-advocacy instruction, plus life skills practiced on community outings. Bring up transition at your teen's IEP meetings well before senior year so the goals line up with what the center teaches.
Is Peppermint Stick Children's Center a special needs preschool?
No. Peppermint Stick is a private, for-profit early care and education center with Lake County roots going back to the 1960s. It takes infants from 6 weeks, preschoolers ages 2 to 5 and school-age children up to 12, whom it transports to and from local schools, and it runs a second center in Grayslake. For a special education classroom, ask D116 about Early Childhood Special Education at its Early Education Center, which children enter through preschool screening.
Can a Round Lake Beach student with ADHD or dyslexia get help?
Yes, two ways. A Section 504 plan gives accommodations without specialized instruction; 60 Round Lake High School students had one in 2021-22. When reading, writing or attention problems need direct teaching, an IEP fits better, because federal rules count dyslexia as a specific learning disability and ADHD as an other health impairment. At the elementary level, D116 runs Instructional programs with smaller classes in every elementary school.
How do I request a special education evaluation in Round Lake Beach?
For kindergarten through eighth grade, write to the principal at your child's D116 school, which handles screening and evaluation in the building. For a high schooler, send a dated written request to Round Lake High School. Illinois gives the district 14 school days to decide whether to evaluate, then 60 school days from your signed consent to decide eligibility and hold the IEP meeting. Consent signed with fewer than 60 attendance days left means the work finishes before the next school year starts.
Are there private school scholarships for Round Lake Beach families?
Illinois ended its Invest in Kids tax-credit scholarship on December 31, 2023. Two state supports remain. The education expense credit returns 25 percent of tuition, book and lab fees above $250 per student on your Illinois return, capped at $750 per family, for households under the income limits. And when D116's IEP team decides it cannot meet a child's needs, a placement in a private special education school comes at no cost to parents.
What should I ask Round Lake High School before ninth grade?
Ask which setting your teen's IEP points to: co-taught classes, the Instructional program, Life Skills or LAB. Find out how Work Crew placements are scheduled, which credits count toward graduation in each program, and who leads transition planning before age 18. With more than 2,200 students, also ask how passing periods, lunch and testing accommodations work for a student who needs support, and how often the case manager will contact you.

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