Overview
Athletics
Leyden students have the opportunity to participate in 31 IHSA sports. Leyden competes in the West Suburban Conference. Participation is offered on several levels, including Varsity, Jr. Varsity, Sophomore, and Freshman. Outstanding facilities include two competition gyms/field houses, aquatic center, fitness centers, multiple auxiliary gyms, a multi-purpose turf field, and recently renovated athletic stadium and outdoor running track.
Communities
Employees
There approximately 300 licensed teachers of which 90% have a master’s degree or higher. We also employ full-time counselors, social workers, speech pathologists, and health care aides.
Leyden is unique in that we employee hundreds of additional support staff including our own in-house transportation department including bus drivers, food service workers, maintenance and security personnel.
Student Clubs
Leyden offers so many opportunities to get involved, including joining clubs, attending special events, participating in spirit days, volunteering in the community, and much more. East and West Leyden each have over 90 clubs, including: academic, cultural, general interest, honors, music / performing arts, and service. Leyden’s Fine Arts program (music and drama) also offer challenging experiences for pupils with special talents and interests.
Special Features
East Leyden Nardini Library/West Leyden Media Center — The Leyden Libraries are integral parts of East and West Leyden High School as they serve to foster student literacies through print and digital texts, innovative programming, and author visits. The libraries are warm, inviting spaces conducive to studying, collaborating, reading, and thinking. The library programming challenges students with a variety of diverse texts to explore current issues, celebrate cultural backgrounds, and research using a wide array of databases at varied reading levels. Our libraries and our work help to engage students with texts, foster excitement about reading, and make the resources accessible to students at all academic levels.
Dual Degree — In the Dual Degree Program, students take classes to fulfill high school graduation requirements as well as earn an Associate’s degree by the end of their senior year. Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) courses are selected for easy transfer to a four-year institution. During their junior and senior years, students will participate in college courses at Triton College.
Career Centers — Supervised by the counseling staff, are open multiple times a week to support students’ postsecondary planning. The Centers also host workshops on topics such as college applications, scholarships, financial aid, and career counseling.
College Seminars — College representatives are frequently scheduled to talk to our students.
Comprehensive Career Programming — Leyden High School offers sixteen state-approved career pathways with early college, team-based challenges, and alignment towards the Illinois College and Career Pathway Endorsement.
Co.Lab Program — Co.Lab is a Freshmen program open to all students. Through participation, students will become confident, creative problem-solvers in an interdisciplinary project based environment that fosters inquiry, leadership, communication, and reflection to help students discover their passions and advocate for their learning.
Four-Year Sequence of Honors Level Classes — The academic areas listed have Advanced Placement courses: Art, English, Calculus, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Italian, French, Spanish, Computer Science, Psychology, European History, U.S. History, and Government/Politics.
The Excellence Award — This recognition is earned over four years as students strive to meet goals in the following areas: G.P.A., Attendance, Citizenship, Service, Participation, Credits, and taking an Advanced Placement or Capstone class.