Libertyville High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Libertyville High School |
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| Motto | Excellence is our standard. |
| Established | 1953 |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Principal | Brad Swanson |
| Faculty | 157 |
| Students | 1,853 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | 708 W. Park Av Libertyville, Illinois USA |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Orange and black |
| Mascot | Willy the Wildcat |
| Newspaper | Drops of Ink |
| Website | lhswildcats.org |
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Libertyville High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Libertyville, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Community High School Illinois District 128, which also includes Vernon Hills High School.
Before LHS, children attend Adler Park Elementary School, Butterfield Elementary School, Copeland Manor Elementary School, or Rockland Elementary School, then Highland Middle School. Students from Oak Grove School, a K-8 school in Green Oaks, and students of Hawthorn District 73 that live in Libertyville also feed into Libertyville.
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[edit] History
The school was originally founded as Libertyville Township High School in 1917. The original building (the Brainerd campus) still stands today, although it is mostly unused due to safety concerns. The current, pictured building opened its doors in 1953.
In 1980, the aquatic facilities of LHS were used for the film Ordinary People. Originally, the entire film was to be shot at LHS, but was moved to Lake Forest High School, because the LHS campus was deemed "too nice".
In 2001, James Hughes filmed New Port South at Libertyville's Brainerd campus. James is the son of the legendary eighties teen writer/director/producer John Hughes.
In 2004, Libertyville was awarded the "Bright Red Apple Award of Excellence" for its eleventh consecutive year by SchoolSearch.
[edit] Academics
In 2005, Libertyville had an average composite ACT score of 24.7, and graduated 99.4% of its senior class. Libertyville has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievements Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act.[1]
The staff is comprised of 157 teachers, of which 88% hold an advanced degree.[2]
In 2006, Newsweek released a list of the best high schools in America. Libertyville High School was ranked 779th nationwide and 22nd state-wide.[3]
[edit] Athletics
Libertyville competes in the North Suburban Conference. Its mascot is the Wildcat.
Libertyville packed in 6,000 in "The Wildcat Den" to watch Libertyville take on Stevenson High School and featured Illinois High School Football's (Illinois High School Association) first Jumbotron. Chicago Bears players Chris Harris, Cedric Benson, Brian Urlacher, and Devin Hester have been at Libertyville High School football games.
The school's varsity football team won the Class 7A State Championship in 2004. It was runner-up in 2003.
In 2000 the school's varsity girls soccer team won the State Championship.
Libertyville's boys basketball team advanced to the IHSA Class AA Semifinals in 1991, losing to eventual state champion Proviso East by four points.
Three years later, the Wildcats advanced to the quarterfinals, losing to Rockford Boylan. The 1994 team was led by All-State guard Matt Heldman, who went on to letter four years at the University of Illinois. Heldman was in the midst of a professional career in Europe when he died in an automobile crash in Libertyville.
Libertyville's rivals are in district rival Vernon Hills High School, and their arch rival, Stevenson High School.
Libertyville's boys lacrosse team placed second in the state in 2004, and has made multiple final four appearances. They have had 3 all-Americans in lacrosse, Greer Hanlon, Steven Brooks, and Bobby Wilkinson. They have also produced all-state selections in Jarred Kolar, Brennan Matthews, Alec Rahe, Kevin Fontana, Kevin Egidi and the all-American selections as well. Steven Brooks is considered the best lacrosse player to ever come out of Illinois. He scored 48 goals and had 30 assists as a senior despite facing constant double teams. He now plays for Syracuse University, where he is a preseason all-American.
[edit] Activities
The school's mathematics team won state in 2003 and 2004. They were runner-up in 2002 and 2005. The Speech Cats won 2nd place for small schools during their home tournament in the 2005-2006 school year. The Academic Decathlon team finished 5th in state in 2005.
Libertyville High School's Model United Nations participates in many national conferences such as those at Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois, and UIC.
The Libertyville High School Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Don Shupe, has performed at several national and international music conferences. In 1998 and 2004, the Wind Ensemble performed at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic for an international audience of music professionals. In addition, the Wind Ensemble has either won the University of Illinois Superstate Band Competition or been the honor band in every year from 1996-2005. The school's jazz band has won one of the local jazz festivals every year for over twenty years. The success of the Libertyville High School bands has earned them a position among the best high school bands in the country.
There are currently three Libertyville orchestras, Chamber Orchestra being the most prestigious. The Symphony Orchestra performed for the Midwest Clinic in 2004. Every other year the orchestra performs all throughout the world. They have been to China, Italy, and many other places.
Each year, the Fine and Performing Arts department presents a fall musical, a winter play, a spring play, and an evening of student-directed one-act plays. LHS was the first high school in Illinois, as well as one of the first in the country, to perform the internationally known musical Les Misérables. Their 2005 Fall musical, Pippin, was performed at the 2006 Illinois High School Theatre Festival at Illinois State University. Past musicals and plays include Robin Hood, Arcadia, A Murder Is Announced, Into The Woods, Oklahoma!, Once in a Lifetime, Rumors, Macbeth, Pacific Overtures, Fiddler on the Roof, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Picnic, Cyrano de Bergerac, Guys and Dolls, and many more.
[edit] Special Interest Clubs
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[edit] Notable alumni
- Marlon Brando, actor
- Brett Butler, baseball player
- Tom Morello of the bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
- Adam Jones of the band Tool
- Chris Ward, AKA mc chris
- Ike Reilly, AKA Indie Rocker
- Kevin Walter, football player for the Houston Texans of the NFL.
[edit] External links
| North Suburban Conference |
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| Lake Division: Lake Forest • Lake Zurich • Libertyville • Mundelein • Stevenson • Warren • Zion-Benton
Prairie Division: Antioch • Grant • Lakes • North Chicago • Round Lake • Vernon Hills • Wauconda |
