| Lane Technical College Prep High School | |
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| The clock tower of Lane Tech
Wherever you go, whatever you do, remember the honor of Lane
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| Address | |
| 2501 W. Addison Street Chicago, Illinois, 60618 United States |
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| Information | |
| School type | public, magnet high school |
| Opened | 1908 |
| School district | City of Chicago Public Schools District 299 |
| CEEB Code | 140640[1] |
| Principal | Dr. Antoinette LoBosco[2] |
| Grades | 7th–12th (including Academic Center) |
| Gender | coed |
| Campus size | 33 acres (13 ha) |
| Campus type | urban |
| Color(s) | myrtle old gold[3] |
| Song | Go, Lane, Go[4] |
| Athletics conference | Chicago Public League |
| Nickname | School of Champions[4] |
| Team name | Indians[3] |
| Newspaper | 'The Warrior' |
| Yearbook | 'The Arrowhead' |
Albert G. Lane Technical College Preparatory High School (also known as Lane Tech), is a public, four-year, magnet high school located on the north side of Chicago. Lane is one of the oldest schools in the city and has an enrollment of over four thousand students.[5]
Lane is a selective-enrollment-based school in which students must take a test and pass a certain benchmark in order to be offered admission.[5] As a result of consistent victories in the fields of sports and academics, the school is known as the "School of Champions".[5] Lane has also produced more Ph.D. holders than any other high school in the country.[4]
Lane is one of nine selective enrollment schools in Chicago. It is a diverse school with many of its students coming from different ethnicities and economic backgrounds which helps enrich the school's student body.[6] To celebrate the school's diversity, Lane hosts dozens of ethnic clubs which help students learn more about other cultures as well as prepare for the International Days festivities.[7] Lane's annual yearbook is called the Arrowhead.
Lane Tech recently opened up an Academic Center for 7th and 8th grade students. This program is accelerated. The Academic Center follows the selective enrollment policies.
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The school is named after Albert Grannis Lane, a former principal and superintendent. It was founded in 1908 and dedicated on Washington's Birthday in 1909, as the Albert Grannis Lane Manual Training High School.[8] It originally stood at Sedgwick Avenue and Division Street.[9] During the early years of the school's operation, the school was a manual training school for boys, where students could take advantage of a wide array of technical classes. Freshmen were offered carpentry, cabinet making, and wood turning. Sophomores received training in foundry, forge, welding, coremaking and molding. Juniors could take classes in the machine shop. Seniors were able to take electric shop which was the most advanced shop course.[4]
By the 1930s, Lane had a student population of over 7,000. Since the school's building was not originally planned for such a huge student population, plans for a new school were drawn up by Board of Education architect John C. Christensen. Upon the school’s completion at its new location, over 9,000 students marched from Wrigley Field on its dedication day, September 17, 1934.[4] In 2008, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the school, another march was held to Wrigley Field.[10] Lane's huge student body necessitated that classes be held in three shifts.[4] In the same year, the school changed its name to the Albert Grannis Lane Technical High School to reflect the school's expanding curriculum. In 2004, the school again changed its name to Lane Technical College Prep High School to reflect a college preparatory mandate.[4]
During World War II, Lane Tech students ran drives to aid in the war effort. The drives generated over $3 million in war bonds, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and four Red Cross ambulances.
Lane adopted a closed admission policy in 1958 on the school's 50th anniversary. All remedial classes were eliminated and only top tier students were admitted to the school. This coincided with the beginning of the space race between the United States and the USSR. Lane changed its educational policy to help ensure that the United States would not fall behind the Soviets in science and technology.[4]
In 1971, changes were made to the admission policy due to a drop in enrollment and lack of technical schools for girls. To solve the issue, Superintendent James Redmond recommended that girls be admitted to Lane Tech. The Chicago Board of Education concurred and girls were admitted as students for the first time. Due to a fear of having a drop in academic achievement, fifteen hundred male students protested the admission but the decision was not changed.[4]
Lane Tech is located on a 33-acre (13 ha) campus at the intersection of Addison Street and Western Avenue. The main building is similar to an A-shape and consists of four floors and a greenhouse as the fifth floor. Some unique features of the main building include a clock tower and a smoke stack.
Several fast food chains, restaurants, supermarkets, and specialty stores are located around the campus. The school is one of only three Chicago Public Schools that allows off-campus lunch.
During the spring 2007 season, Chicago city building inspectors declared Lane Stadium unsafe and condemned the eastern half of the stadium. The age of the stadium and the fact it was built on landfill raised concerns that using the stadium to full capacity would cause a structural collapse. Events affected were the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 graduating class ceremonies (moved to the UIC Pavilion located at the University of Illinois at Chicago), the annual Letterman versus Faculty Softball game, the annual Memorial Day assembly, and the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Pep Rally.[11]
Lane Stadium reopened September 7, 2007, with a new turf field. The stadium also features a new IHSA regulation track.
The Lane Tech Memorial Garden is located in the inner courtyard of the building and is dedicated to graduates who have lost their lives defending their country. At the east end of the formal garden is a bronze statue of a young Native American, created by the artist, J. Sazton. It is called, "Shooting the Stars" and it symbolically urges students to set their sights on lofty goals.[12]
At the west end of the Memorial Garden is the Ramo I. Zenkich Memorial, consisting of a flag pole and granite monument inscribed with the names of the students from Lane Tech who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
The Memorial Garden was rededicated in 1995. During the school’s 90th anniversary celebration in 1998, a commemorative plaque was placed near the “Shooting the Stars” statue. It explains the significance of the Memorial Garden to Lane Tech and its students.
Lane has been the site of various filming locations. The movie The Express, starring Dennis Quaid, was filmed during the 2006-2007 school year in Lane Tech stadium.[13] Lane's stadium was also used for some parts of the 1986 movie, Wildcats, starring Goldie Hawn and Swoosie Kurtz.[14] The 33-acre (13 ha) campus was also used in a scene in the movie High Fidelity, filmed on the east lawn of the Lane Tech campus.[15]
Lane's regular school day operates from 8:00 AM to 2:55 PM with seven periods of classes and one period of lunch. Students may enter the school early for breakfast and other school related activities with teachers, as well as tutoring.[16]
Lane offers seven concentrations for students to choose from: Honors, Core, Technology, Architecture/Engineering, Art, Music, and Business. Another curriculum, the Alpha Program, is also available. It is an intermediate curriculum between the Honors Level and AP Level. To enter this program, a student is required to score in the 95% and higher in Math, Science and Reading. Lane Tech's A.P Photography classes are well known, winning state level competition at least 2 times a year. Education To Careers (ETC) programs are offered in automotive mechanics, machines, electronics, computers, radio-TV, theater technology, architectural drafting, computer aided drafting, art, accounting and music.[17]
Honor level courses are offered to qualified students. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are available in English, history, math, science, art, music, computer science and world languages.
Other programs include the Honors Alpha Program, a hands-on, multi-disciplinary study of the sciences for students interested in scientific research. Students of the program learn at an accelerated pace compared to regular and honors classes and may receive more class credits[17]
Students can also replace their normal physical education classes with a class in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC). The program sponsors the Proctors Club, Color Guard, Honor Guard, Drill Platoon, Drum & Bugle Corps, and Raiders of Lane.[18]
As of 2011, Lane has a 88.5% graduation rate and scored 88.0% on the Prairie State Achievement Exam.[19]
Lane offers many sports including, but not limited to baseball, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross-country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, wrestling, and water polo.[20] Lane garners, on average, 7-10 city-championships per year and has won 16 state championships since 1908 giving its nickname of "The School of Champions". Numerous Lane Tech athletes have competed beyond the high school level and achieved success at the college level and beyond.[4]
Several school events are held throughout the school year at Lane.
The school song "Go, Lane, Go" was written in 1915 by a student named Jack T. Nelson. The song was first played during the pep rally and was met with great enthusiasm. Lane was one of only a few schools at the time to have an original school song.[4] The song is played daily before the National Anthem and also serves as a warning to students that classes will start soon.
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