Sexual Health Education

The goal of sex education is to help young people navigate sexual development and grow into sexually healthy adults.

To be effective, we build a foundation in grades K-4 by providing Personal Health and Safety Education, which covers topics such as safe touches, bullying and friendships, different kinds of families, and basic anatomy. In grades 5-8, sex education includes medically accurate information about a broad range of topics, such as consent and healthy relationships; puberty and adolescent development; sexual and reproductive anatomy and physiology; gender identity and expression; sexual identity and orientation; interpersonal and sexual violence; contraception, pregnancy, and reproduction; and HIV and other STDs/STIs.

Quality sex education goes beyond delivering information. It provides young people with opportunities to explore their own identities and values along with the values and beliefs of their families and communities. It also allows young people to practice the communication, negotiation, decision-making, and assertiveness skills they need to create healthy relationships—both sexual and nonsexual—throughout their lives. (National Sex Education Standards, p. 6).

The instruction provided by District 65 is in alignment with Public Act 102-0522, the Comprehensive Personal Health and Safety and Sexual Health Education Act, which requires the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to adopt the National Sex Education Standards as the Illinois Learning Standards for sexual health education. These standards were adopted on June 14, 2022.

Contact

To contact the Curriculum and Instruction Department, please call (847) 859-8032. To reach a specific member of the Curriculum & Instruction Team, please visit our staff directory and search 'Curriculum & Instruction Department'.