Support Personnel

  • Welcome to Ellsworth Support Personnel!

Certified School Nurse (CSN)

  • The Certified School Nurse (CSN) is a Bachelor’s-prepared registered nurse who has a multi-faceted role within the school setting. This role supports the physical, mental, emotional, and social health of students and their success in the learning process. To that end, school nurses facilitate normal development and positive student response to interventions, promote health and safety including a healthy environment, intervene with actual and potential health problems, provide case management services, and actively collaborate with others to build student and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self-advocacy and learning. District 203 school nurses are Bachelor’s- or Master’s-prepared registered nurses who also hold a Professional Educator License endorsed in School Nursing as defined by the Illinois State Board of Education. School nurses are certified vision and hearing screening technicians through the Illinois Department of Public Health and American Heart Association CPR/AED instructors. See the School Nurse Roles and Responsibilities page for details.

Health Technician

  • Health Technicians provide clerical assistance and technical support in school health offices and optimize the delivery of comprehensive school health services. Health Technicians work under the direction of the Certified School Nurse.  All health technicians are CPR/AED and First Aid certified.  Health technicians may also be certified vision and hearing screeners. See the Health Technician Roles and Responsibilities page for details.

Learning Behavior Specialist (LBS Teacher)

  • LBS Teachers provide specialized instruction and support by serving as a teacher with specific responsibility  to students eligible for special education services. LBS Teachers work to increase academic and social-emotional skills of students within the classroom or other assigned areas. They develop lesson plans and deliver group and individual student instruction within established curriculum guidelines and Individual Education Programs, while collaborating with other teachers, related services personnel, parents, paraprofessionals and administrators to develop instruction and monitor student progress. LBS Teachers also work in the capacity as case manager to facilitate IEP meetings, write appropriate goals and objectives, collect data, and report progress for the purpose of assessing goal attainment.

Occupational Therapist

  • Occupational Therapy services promote improved fine motor and sensorimotor functioning of the student in the learning process. Following a formal evaluation and the development of the student’s individualized education plan, OT services are provided by therapists in cooperation with the teacher and other members of the educational team. 

School Psychologist

  • The School Psychologist works with students to:
    • Provide counseling, instruction, and mentoring for those struggling with social, emotional, and behavioral problems
    • Increase achievement by assessing barriers to learning and determining the best instructional strategies to improve learning
    • Promote wellness and resilience by reinforcing communication and social skills, problem solving, anger management, self-regulation, self-determination, and optimism
    The School Psychologist works with students and their families to:
    • Identify and address learning and behavior problems that interfere with school success
    • Support students' social, emotional, and behavioral health
    • Teach parenting skills and enhance home–school collaboration
    • Make referrals and help coordinate community support services
    The School Psychologist works with teachers to:
    • Identify and resolve academic barriers to learning
    • Design and implement student progress monitoring systems
    • Design and implement academic and behavioral interventions
    • Create positive classroom environments
    • Motivate all students to engage in learning

School Social Worker

  • School Social Workers serve as a link between home, school, and community. School social work is a specialized area of practice within the broad field of the social work profession. School social workers bring unique knowledge and skills to the school system and the educational support team. In particular, school social workers are trained in mental health concerns, behavioral concerns, positive behavioral supports, academic and classroom interventions. Through on-going consultation, school social workers assist classroom teachers, parents, and administrators in identifying potential barriers to students’ academic success and social/emotional well-being. School social workers provide support through crisis intervention, individual or group counseling that may address a variety of concerns, including:
    • Developing positive peer relationships
    • Mediating conflicts
    • Improving social skills
    • Learning problem-solving, decision-making, and coping skills
    • Developing strategies to increase academic success
    • Providing crisis intervention
    • Managing stress
    • Identifying symptoms of depression, anxiety, and reactions to loss or trauma
    School social workers are well-versed in the numerous resources available in the community and are able to link families with appropriate agencies and service providers.

Speech & Language Pathologist

  • The Speech and Language Pathologist works with the educational team to identify students with communication disabilities that adversely impact the student in the educational environment. The Speech and Language Pathologist develops and implements appropriate Individual Education Programs according to IDEA, collaborates with others, including parents, to communicate information, provides training to assist in generalization of skills in other environments, provides appropriate communication technologies when appropriate, and collects data to ensure compliance with established guidelines and legal requirements.