A Letter from the District 203 Superintendent

Thank you for visiting New Trier High School's website! I am excited to welcome you to New Trier, one of the country's most highly regarded public high schools based on our students' extraordinary academic achievement, our unparalleled extracurricular program, and our commitment to creating an individualized experience for every student.

New Trier High School is a place where all students can learn, grow, and find their passions as they prepare for adulthood. I encourage you to visit our About page and to explore the links to our Academic Programs, Extracurricular Programs, and Student Services to find out more about all that New Trier has to offer.
New Trier's academic and athletic successes are well-known; our students routinely post Illinois' top test scores for an open enrollment school, and our athletic teams and clubs have higher participation rates and more state championships than any other high school in the state.  But there is much more to New Trier than a list of accolades, and I hope that through this website you will learn more about what makes our school such a special place for our students, faculty, and staff.  

 "To commit minds to inquiry, hearts to compassion, and lives to the service of humanity" is not only New Trier's motto, but also a mission that informs everything we do. Our highly experienced faculty members are committed to getting to know our students, be it by offering office hours for extra guidance, sponsoring a club, or serving as an adviser to a small group of young men or women throughout their high school careers.

Perhaps the most common misperception about New Trier pertains to our enrollment of over 4,000 students, a number that brings with it some concern that we cannot possibly meet every student's needs.  However, several unique programs at New Trier help make our large school feel small. 

First and foremost, New Trier has an adviser program that is admired and replicated all over the country.  As freshmen, students are placed in a heterogeneous group, forming a cohort that meets for 25 minutes every day for four years.  Students are assigned one faculty adviser at the freshman campus and one for grades 10-12, and that adviser serves as a link between student, teachers, and family. Contrary to the traditional high school guidance program with its 300 to 1 ratio of students to counselors, New Trier's 26 to 1 adviser room ratio ensures that the students are guided by faculty members who know them and their families well. 

In addition to its award-winning adviser system, New Trier has a number of programs and practices that ensure individual attention and intervention when needed.  Students begin high school on the beautiful, freshman-only Northfield Campus where teachers, administrators, and support staff understand and love ninth-graders and can provide for their unique developmental needs. 

Our Graduating Class Teams follow students all four years, getting to know families and students. They can bring together advisers and teachers with support professionals to design interventions when a student is experiencing difficulty. During junior and senior years, post-high school counselors provide advice and support during the college selection and application process.  The Reading and Writing Center staff helps students decipher difficult texts and revise essays.  Numerous academic support programs provide extra assistance in a timely and individualized way.

Outside of the regular school day, New Trier is committed to providing extracurricular opportunities for every student.  We offer more than 35 sports, including no-cut sports every season and multiple team levels in many sports. All major play productions are double-cast, providing added opportunities for student participation.  More than 150 clubs meet student interests on both campuses.  An extensive intramural program sponsored by the school and the Booster Club involves hundreds of students each year.  Leadership opportunities exist in activities, sports, service clubs, and student government on both campuses.  And most importantly, small class sizes and a culture encouraging student-faculty interaction mean that teachers know their students well and provide support outside of class.

New Trier is truly a unique high school, providing individual attention within the context of a diverse and expansive curricular and extracurricular program.  I encourage you to learn more about New Trier and find out what makes us so special!

Sincerely,

Dr. Paul Sally
Superintendent

Superintendent’s 8/19/24 Statement on Supporting Students During Complex Events in our World 

The mission of New Trier High School is to commit minds to inquiry, hearts to compassion and lives to the service of humanity. In pursuit of this aim, we seek to develop in every graduate the skills and dispositions to lead meaningful, compassionate, and impactful lives. We do this by engaging students in open inquiry, civil discourse, and critical thinking - in our classrooms, adviser rooms, and extracurricular spaces. Our success demands that we prioritize the cultivation of an inclusive and welcoming environment in which everyone feels acknowledged and welcome. 

Amid complex local, national, and global events, New Trier has a responsibility to safeguard our students’ ability to fully engage in school. As such, our response to public matters outside of New Trier will be guided by our core mission to educate students. We will pursue actions that invite inquiry, promote discourse, seek understanding, and foster belonging for students and staff. Our focus will be on supporting members of our community affected by distressing events through the continuation and expansion of resources and information to our staff so they can ensure that all students are able to learn. Examples of our actions include:

• Partnering with families and community groups to provide resources and supports
• Working with our Graduating Class Teams, Advisers, and the Social Work Department to refer individual students who may be struggling to appropriate resources
• Making discussion spaces available for groups of students and staff who may be affected
• Collaborating with teachers and leaders to provide context and approaches for difficult discussions
• Preparing advisers and other staff with information about the event so it can be thoughtfully discussed in adviser rooms or classes as appropriate

Except in rare instances when public matters directly impact our core mission of educating students, the superintendent will not issue public statements. Our strength lies in our diversity of perspectives, and while taking an institutional stance on external events may feel supportive to some, it risks alienating others – prompting some members of our community to disengage, discouraging the very discourse and inquiry we seek to promote as educators.

As a community united in common purpose, New Trier cares about the well-being of all its members, and we feel empathy for those affected by events of great consequence. By prioritizing care for all of our students and staff, we maintain our focus on our core mission. In difficult times, we are grateful for our supportive families, staff, and community and our shared commitment to making New Trier a place where everyone can belong, learn, and thrive.