Palos Heights School District 128

Palos Heights School District 128 is a PK-8 Cook County, Illinois, school district in the southern village of Palos Heights; the district serves Palos Heights Proper and the majority of its neighboring unincorporated areas. The district has four schools: Indian Hill Preschool, which educates prekindergarteners, serves roughly 7% of district students; Cathy Leslie is the director of the prekindergarten program at the facility.^[2] Chippewa Elementary School, the most populous of the schools as of May 2008, educates District 128 students in grades one through three, and also runs a kindergarten program; it is under the direction of Mary Ann Redshaw.^[3] Those in grades four through five attend Navajo Heights Elementary School, which bridges the gap between the elementary schools and the grades 6–8 Independence Junior High School; the principal of Navajo Heights Elementary School is Sharon Herman,^[4] while the principal of Independence Junior High School is Dr. Kevin Kirk.^[5] The district superintendent is Dr. Kathleen Casey,^[6] and the mascot of Independence Junior High School is the patriot.^[5]

The administration of Independence Junior High School runs a program linked to its home page; this program is a page-long short story known as a "Five Minute Mystery" that students are meant to solve in an attempt to encourage students to read more.^[7]

Navajo Heights hosts a series of activities, including book clubs, a math team alternatively known as a Math Olympiad, a chorus, and a community service committee.^[8] Additionally, the school presents the products of project assignments from the students of the two grades of which it serves.

Independence and Navajo Heights sport school bands.^[9]