The new DeKalb High School (DHS), set to open in 2011, is the third professional partnership between NIU and DeKalb School District 428.

“Now is the ideal time to work on things,” said Anne Kaplan, vice president for Administration and University Outreach at NIU.

Administrators and staff from DHS and NIU began meeting in July and are planning to continue working together over the next three years until the new high school opens.

“It is a common vision focused on raising student achievement, improving preparation of educators and sharing resources when possible,” Kaplan said.

Russ Fletcher, school/community relations liaison for the DeKalb School District 428, said the high school partnership is extensive and will help all future secondary teachers significantly.

“From my understanding, one of the main goals is to transform the way that learning occurs at high school levels and look at incorporating technology into the curriculum,” Fletcher said.

Kaplan also said four colleges within NIU are included in the DHS planning: College of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“A goal is to develop the organizational means for faculty and staff at both the high school and university to work together and create structure within the partnership,” Kaplan said.

The new high school will have an expected capacity of 2,500 students. The larger student capacity will help solve the overcrowding problem at the current DHS, which is built for 1,430 but has 1,700 students attending.

“The DeKalb High School will be the closest but is not the only secondary education [institution] that NIU has a partnership with,” said Sharon Smaldino, director of the Partnership Office in the College of Education.

The other NIU and District 428 partnerships are Wright Elementary School and Chesebro Elementary School.