O’Fallon Township High School is growing! As you head down Highway 50 and shift your eyes from the beautiful Smiley campus across the street, you’ll notice the old Memorial building at 706 East Highway 50. Beginning August 11 for the 2020-2023 school year, this building will become the brand new OTHS South Campus! OTHS South will provide a variety of cutting-edge opportunities for our students with special needs. In addition to the three classrooms that will take part in their academic day at the South campus, there will be a variety of work sites within the building to serve all our special needs population beginning in the ninth grade and through the age of 22. 

Areas such as a PAES (Practical Assessment Exploration System) lab will allow students to master work skills that will help them become employable once they transition into a post-secondary world. Engaging in these skills in a building like South will allow students to generalize more naturally so that their transition from OTHS into the world of work is seamless. Whereas the layout of the Route 21 transition house mirrors a typical at-home setting, the South campus will allow students to engage in a more work-centered environment. An industrial kitchen will allow students to learn skills that mirror restaurant settings, and the laundry facilities and coffee shop will provide for on-site training in Panther-owned and run business models. 

Using new grant-funded modes of transportation, students who attend the South campus will also still be immersed in the excitement and culture of the main Smiley campus with their peers daily. Students will travel across the street to take part in PE, lunch, and classes within the regular and special education departments. OTHS could not be prouder of the hard work and perseverance that our staff, providers and parents put forth daily to be sure that all students receive a fully immersed high school experience that will allow for their adulthood to be rich and vibrant. We are thrilled to add the South campus to our OTHS extended grounds in the hope that it continues the legacy of providing Excellence in Education to Every Student Every day. 

Video credit: Visual Paradise Films