Hinsdale Central High School

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Hinsdale Central High School
Established 1879
Type Public secondary
Principal Kevin Pobst (Interim Principal)
Faculty 210
Students 2,800
Grades 9–12
Location 5500 S. Grant St.
Hinsdale, Illinois USA
Campus Suburban
Colors Red, White
Mascot Red Devils
Yearbook El Diablo
Newspaper Devil's Advocate
Website central.hinsdale86.org/

Hinsdale Central High School, or HCHS, and locally referred to as "Central," is a public four-year high school located at the corner of W. 55th St. and S. Grant St. in Hinsdale, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Hinsdale Township High School District No. 86, which also includes Hinsdale South High School.

Contents

[edit] History

Hinsdale High School was established in 1879 when community members began to see the need for education beyond eighth grade for their children. The first students, Alice Warren, Minnie Hinds, Grace Redfield, and Florence Webster, were graduated in 1883. In this period, there were five teachers, including the principal, teaching about 120 students in grades 1 - 12. All twelve grades shared the ca. 1866 schoolhouse at Garfield and Third Streets, built by William Robbins to serve the community he was developing.

In 1894 the school building burned, and was replaced by a new building on the same site. In 1911 the school district was reorganized, and the school became officially known as Hinsdale Township High School. In 1916 a new school building was completed nearby.

By the 1930s, a site for a new school to serve the growing community was purchased south of town at the corner of 55th & Grant Streets. Though a new football field was dedicated here in 1932, Depression and World War II constraints postponed construction until 1948. The current high school building as dedicated in 1950. Many additions have been added over the years, most recently, in 2004, the school underwent additional construction to alleviate crowded hallways and rebuild deteriorating parts of the building. The reconstruction a new library, extended cafeteria, and connected hallways greatly opening up the campus and improving the flow of traffic.

By the 1960s, two additional school sites were purchased. Hinsdale South High School opened in 1965 a the corner of Clarendon Hills Road and 75th Street in Darien. It was then that the word "Central" was added to the name of the school. The other property at the corner of Midwest Road and 31st Street in Oak Brook, for a potential Hinsdale North High School, was later determined to be not needed, and was sold. This property now forms part of the Trinity Lakes Subdivision.

[edit] Academics

In 2005, Hinsdale Central had an average composite ACT score of 25.4, and graduated 98.9% of its senior class[1]. The school is well ranked, with ACT scores considerably above the state average of 20.1. The average class size at Central is 20.4. Hinsdale Central has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test that is part of the No Child Left Behind Act.[1]

The staff is comprised of 210 teachers, of which 67% hold an advanced degree. Thirty percent of the faculty have more than twenty years of teaching experience. The class of 2004 included 555 graduates, 97% of which were college bound. 18 were National Merit Semi-Finalist, 18 National Merit Finalists, 29 National Merit Commended Students, 147 Illinois State Scholars. The average SAT score was a 1163. In 2004 673 students took 1393 AP examinations with 88% of reported scores a 3 or higher.[2]

[edit] Departments

Art
Laura Milas, Department Chair
Pat Potokar
Laura Sievers
Mark Wanner
Business
Michael Ivancich, Department Chair
Kristen Bronke
Amy Gibson
George Miller
Karen Russo
William Walsh
Drivers Education
Alan Housner, Program Coordinator
Gary Gamen
Brent Johnson
Ed Lynch
Pat Richards
Educational Services
Gayle Brankin, Department Chair
English
Suzanne Strohschein, Department Chair
Family & Consumer Sciences
Carolyn Mack, Department Chair
Foreign Language
Susan Ferguson, Department Chair
Math
John Diehl, Interim Department Chair
Music
Jeff Waggoner, Department Chair
Physical Education
Skip Begley, Department Chair
Science
Lisa Fernandez, Department Chair
Social Studies
Carl Brownell, Department Chair
Technology Education
Michael Ivancich, Department Chair
Transitional Program of Instruction
Loretta (Suzy) Ruder, Program Director

Technology Education===Technology=== In recent years the administration has moved towards integrating technology into the daily life of the school. A so-called "Tablet Initiative" attempted to have every freshman from the class of 2009 purchase a tablet PC for use in classes. However, this inititaive was met with poor enthusiasm - only 8 tablets were sold under this program.

Grade notification is now available online, and Hinsdale Central has integrated their server with Microsoft's Sharepoint solution as opposed to their original use of Blackboard in the 2003-2004 school year.

[edit] Athletics

Hinsdale Central competes in the West Suburban Silver Division of the West Suburban Conference and is a member school in the Illinois High School Association. Its mascot is the Red Devil, which has been a source of controversy among religious advocates. A commonly held (though untrue) belief is that there was a proposal to change the mascot to the Flamers. The school offers 23 varsity sports for men and women and has won 72 state championships, the second most of any high school in Illinois. Central's main sports rivals are sister school Hinsdale South High School, Lyons Township High School and Downers Grove North High School. The annual Hinsdale Central vs. Hinsdale South football game almost always has sellout crowds and is annually one of the most popular high school football games (based upon attendance) in Chicagoland. Also, the annual "Old Oaken Bucket Game" is played between Hinsdale Central and Downers North for the possession of the Old Oaken Bucket.

Hinsdale Central's best teams have traditionally been men's and women's tennis, men's gymnastics, and men's and women's swimming. The men's tennis team has won the conference championship for 48 consecutive years and has won 17 team state championships, second only to New Trier (18). The women's tennis team has won 9 team state championships, the most in the state. The men's gymnastics team has won 9 team state championships, the most in the state. The men's swimming team has won 17 team state championships, second again to New Trier (18). The women's swimming team has won 7 team state championships, second to New Trier (10). In addition, the football team has been particularly good in recent years, making it to the Class 8A state semi-final round of the play-off bracket in 2005.[3] In 2006, the women’s cross-country team won the state class AA championship, the women’s tennis team won the state team and doubles championships, and the women’s golf team featured the individual state class AA champion. The girls cross country team was also invited to Nike Team Nationals, which is an invite in Oregon, that invites the top 20 in America.

Some of the school’s many outstanding individual athletes include Marty Riessen with four individual state tennis championships, and John Kinsella, an Olympian who won the James E. Sullivan Award as America's top amateur athlete in 1970 [2].

[edit] Activities

The school offers more than fifty clubs, including community service organizations, academic competition teams, foreign language groups, and special interest clubs. A complete list is available at http://central.hinsdale86.org/activities/clubdescriptions.htm Many clubs have won local and state awards and competitions.

[edit] Sexual Assault Scandals

Former teacher Robert Mueller was convicted in December 2006 of criminal sexual assault of two students, females aged 15 and 16 years old. He was guilty on 8 counts of sexual assault and is currently serving 32 years in prison.[4]

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ Illinois School Report Card
  2. ^ School Profile
  3. ^ Illinois High School Association
  4. ^ Hinsdale Central Coach Guilty Of Sexual Assault

Baaken, Timothy. HINSDALE. Hinsdale, Ill.: Hinsdale Doings, 1976.

Dugan, Hugh. VILLAGE ON THE COUNTY LINE. Privately Printed, 1949.

Sterling, Tom, and Mary Sterling. HINSDALE AND THE WORLD. Hinsdale, Ill.: Sterling Books, 1997.

[edit] External links


West Suburban Conference
Silver Division: Hinsdale Central • York• Proviso West • Oak Park River Forest • Lyons Township • Glenbard West • Downers Grove North

Gold Division: Addison Trail • Hinsdale South • Morton • Downers Grove South • East Leyden • Proviso East • Willowbrook
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