Naperville Central High School

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Naperville Central High School
Seal of Naperville Central High School
Established 1863, original school
1952, current building
Type Public secondary
Principal Jim Caudill
Faculty 217
Students 3,088
Grades 9–12
Location 440 W. Aurora Ave.
Naperville, Illinois USA
Campus Suburban
Colors Red and White
Mascot Redhawks
Yearbook Arrowhead (until 1993)
Flight (1994-present)
Newspaper The Central Times
Website www.ncusd203.org/central

Naperville Central High School (Naperville Central) is a public four-year comprehensive school covering grades nine through twelve in Naperville, a suburb southwest of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is the counterpart to Naperville North High School of Naperville Community Unit School District 203.

Contents

[edit] History

Illustration of the Naperville Central High School main entrance, as it has appeared since 1992. The "Guidance Wing" (a 1992 addition) is to the left, and the exterior of the school's main library is to the right.
Illustration of the Naperville Central High School main entrance, as it has appeared since 1992. The "Guidance Wing" (a 1992 addition) is to the left, and the exterior of the school's main library is to the right.

The present NCHS structure is on Aurora Avenue just outside the downtown business district in Naperville. The building is within walking distance of the Naperville Riverwalk park/trail network, and is just north of Knoch Park and the Edward Hospital campus. The oldest part of the current building, known by some as the "Tower," or the "Three-Story Wing," was constructed in 1950, and was dedicated in 1952. The previous building which had housed the Naperville Community High School (or sometimes just Naperville High School) stood on Washington Street, just east of the present location of Washington Junior High School. This same building was used as the original Washington Junior High School until it was replaced in 1977.

The current Naperville Central building has received a number of building additions, in 1955, 1963, 1968, 1987 and 1992. For the 1992-93 school year, three projects in three independent locations added a Student Services wing in the northeast part of the building, in front of the original structure, an auditorium in the northwest part of the building and a natatorium (swimming/diving facility) in the southern part of the building. Prior additions included a field house and renovations to the student cafeteria area in the late 1980s, the current school library, and a large single-story classroom wing, known as the Flat Wing. As of the 2004-05 academic year, this gives the building a size of 439,660 square feet (41,000 square meters), not including the use of six mobile classrooms.

From 1939 until 1992, the mascot was the Redskin. A series of public protests over "Redskin" as a mascot began in the 1980s and continued into the early 1990s. Each time such a protest started, the student body was polled over keeping the mascot, and each result ended with the student body voting overwhelmingly to keep it. The community, too, rallied to keep "Redskins" as the nickname; despite this, the District 203 School Board decided during the summer of 1992 that it would be appropriate to end the use of the term "Redskins". Nearly all uses of the previous Native American logo and references to "Redskin," or other names deemed to be "Native American"-themed, such as the former "Arrowhead" yearbook, were removed from the building that summer. The "Redhawk" was chosen in the fall of 1992 as the new school's mascot, after a vote by students.

In 2002 the National Geographic Channel visited the school and featured the school's mummy on an episode of its Mummy Roadshow, as it is the only authentic Egyptian mummy in the country located in a high school. The mummy dates to approximately 55 BCE. Butch, as it's known, is kept in a glass case on the second story.

In 2004, the marching band was selected to perform as extras in the 2005 film The Weather Man, shown briefly in a scene depicting a Thanksgiving Day parade.

[edit] Academics

In 2005, Naperville Central had an average composite ACT score of 25.1, and graduated 98.8% of its senior class. Naperville Central has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act.[1]

The staff is comprised of 217 teachers, of which over 90% have a masters degree or greater. The average class size is 24.7.

[edit] Athletics

The Redhawk, NCHS mascot since 1992.

Naperville Central has 25 athletic teams which compete in the DuPage Valley Conference. Naperville Central's mascot is the Redhawk.

The Redhawks have had considerable success in various sports. The 1993 girls tennis team became the first team in the history of the school, including its time as Naperville High School, to win a state team title. Tennis success at NCHS continued later on as Elizabeth Lumpkin won the state title in singles tennis in 2000 as a freshman and went on to capture the state singles title for each of her next three years of her high school career. She became the first girl in Illinois history to win the state singles title 4 years in a row.

The Boys' Volleyball team became the second team in NCHS history to win a state title, winning the State Championship in the spring of 1998. The football team won the IHSA Class 6A championship in 1999. The Boys' Swimming team won the state championship in February 2002. The girls basketball team won the State Championship in 2003 and 2004. The Girls' Swimming team won back-to-back State Championships in November 2004 and 2005. The Girls' Volleyball team won the Class AA State champtionship in November 2005. The baseball team won the 2006 IHSA Class AA state championship in June 2006, under Coach Bill Seiple.

[edit] Activities

The Naperville School District is notable for its sponsorship of non-athletic extra-curricular activities. Academic teams such as The Scholastic Bowl Team, The Science Olympiad Team and the Math Team have placed well in the Dupage Valley Conference (DVC), regional, and state competitions. As a fairly large school, Naperville Central participates in mostly the largest and most competitive divisions of any competition.

The NCHS Science Olympiad Team, founded in 2004, ranked third in the state in 2005 and 2006. The WYSE (Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering) Team won the State Championship in 2006, ending rival Naperville North's multiple-year winning streak. The NCHS math team won the Illinois Mathematics League Competition in 2006; its rival placed second. The Varsity JETS (Junior Engineering and Technical Society) team placed first in the Nation in 2006; the JV JETS team placed second. Both varsity and JV JETS teams defeated Naperville North--2006 was a successful year for NCHS against their crosstown rivals in several academic extracurriculars (the Math Team being a notable exclusion).

In 2006, four students from NCHS competed in the Toshiba/NSTA Exploravision Competition and were recognized as Second Place National Finalist Winners for their design of a Wireless Information Integration network.[2]

The NCHS Chess team placed respectably in 2005 and 2006; student Jason Duncan was the Individual State Champion in both years.

The Central Times (CT) student newspaper has won many national National Pacemaker Awards, the high-school journalism version of the Pulitzer Prize. The CT also won the 2006 IHSA Journalism State competition. CT staff members have received national awards for their writing, as well as awards from Columbia University.

[edit] Notable alumni

In 1996, Naperville Central put together an alumni committee to recognize outstanding graduates of NCHS and offer effective role models for students. This includes students who attended the high school before the construction of Naperville North. The committee is made up of a group of administrators, teachers, and students. A ceremony is held at the end of each school year to recognize the new inductees. Some of the above-named alumni have been honored by this committee.

[edit] Facility Issues

There has been an increasing concern among the community about the safety and reliability of Naperville Central. Complaints of asbestos, leaky roofs, and unorganized structure cause it to be the main focus of Naperville School District 203's "Facilites Task Force". [4] The Task Force sought community input about Central and other district facility issues. As of now, they have reported to the Board of Education, and are awaiting a further decision. Possible remedies include a full replacement of the school, or the construction of further additions, in order to replace the parts of the school dating back to the 1950s.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Illinois School Report Card
  2. ^ Wireless Information Integration
  3. ^ Voting page for "Naperville's Most Famous", run by the Naperville Sun newspaper.
  4. ^ District 203 Facilities Task Force

[edit] External links


DuPage Valley Conference
Glenbard East • Glenbard North • Naperville Central • Naperville North • West Aurora • West Chicago • Wheaton North • Wheaton Warrenville South
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