St. Charles North High School, Illinois

Saint Charles North High School
Established 2000
Type Public primary
Principal Kimberly Zupec
Faculty 169
Students 2,169
Grades 9–12
Location 255 Red Gate Road
St. Charles, Illinois, USA
Campus Suburban
Colors Blue, Black, and Silver
Mascot Polaris(Polar Bear)
Yearbook Polaris
Newspaper Stargazer
Website [1]

Saint Charles North High School, or SCN, is a public four-year high school, located in St. Charles, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Community Unit School District 303 which also includes Saint Charles East High School.

Contents

History

Originally, the main campus was built in 1995 by Hestrup & Associates as Wredling Middle School with a capacity of expanded and converted into a high school in 2000 at a cost of $41,600,000.

In the spring of 2001, a serious mold problem was discovered at St. Charles East. and was determined to be the source of some student illnesses[1]. As a result, East students received an extra two weeks of spring break while school board officials decided on the best recourse. For the rest of the 2000-2001 school year, St. Charles East shared a split-schedule with St. Charles North. East students attended class at the North campus during the morning while North students had class during the afternoon. After repairs, which totaled nearly $30 million dollars[2], classes resumed their normal locations and schedules the following school year.

The inaugural Class of 2003 was led by an executive student council committee of Todd Hewell, Morgan Darrah, Matt Kling, Amanda Zaferopulos, Matt Cameron and Alissa DePue, who served as Executive President, Vice-President, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer and Parliamentarian, respectively. Hewell, Cameron and DePue served in these capacities for three years. The class adviser for all four years was Dr. Natalie Nelson. [2]

In November 2006, the Boys Soccer team bowed out of the State Tournament after reaching the Elite Eight. This was the best finish in school history.

In 2006, the St. Charles North Boys Football Team won their first ever state playoff game by a score of 13-12.

In 2007, defensive end Tim Janeway set the school record for sacks at 12.5 in one season.

In 2009, the football team reached the state quarter finals for the first time in school history.

On August 4, 2008, the high school suffered extensive damage from a strong thunderstorm. Some of the damage was to the roof and lightpoles. The damage had closed the school until further notice. The damage is suspected to be from a microburst in St Charles from 80 - 90 mph (140 km/h) winds. The school then opened its doors to students on the original planned date after all of the damage was fixed.

In May 2010, the Boys Tennis Team placed tenth in state qualifying their whole team for state, which included John Mittvick, Nikhil Mehta, Danny Oakes, David Johnson, Christian Hoskey,and Parker Featherston team was coached by Sean Masoncup.

In June 2009 the boys Track & Field 4x400 team qualified and placed 12th in state. They set a new school record with a time of 3:22. The relay consisted of Taylor Smith, Jack Skelton, Steve Miller, and Max Clink.

In November, 2010, St. Charles North was featured in newspapers and newscasts nationwide after at least three students at the school demonstrated their own view on homosexuality by wearing t-shirts that said “Straight Pride” on the front and referencing a Biblical verse from Leviticus on the back. The verse advocates death as punishment for homosexual activity.

In 2011, the girl's varsity softball team made it all the way to the final game in state, placing 2nd in the State after losing to Moline 9-8.

Referendums

In recent years many referendums have been presented to residents of Community Unit School District 303. As can been seen on their site the D303 operates on a budget of $134,000,000. Referendums for this school had been ongoing since March 2002[3] when at the time superintendent Francis J. Kostel proposed with the school board a series of referendums to raise tax money. In 2004, the school board posted a list that even showed the programs that could no longer be paid for by the school district if a referendum wasn't passed. This led to a student rally on the St. Charles bridge with signs in support of the 2004 referendum. Of the four referendums presented since 2002, only one has passed.

Amenities

The 345,000-square-foot (32,100 m2) school is equipped with:[3]

Academics

In 2006, Saint Charles North had an average composite ACT score of 22.6 and graduated 100% of its senior class[4]. Saint Charles North has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test which is mandatory under the No Child Left Behind Act.

St. Charles North High School offers the following Advanced Placement Program courses:

Currently, St. Charles North is undergoing curriculum renewal and redesign in partnership with the Illinois Math and Science Academy along with Brown University. The average class size is 22.8.[4]

Fifty St. Charles North students were recently named AP Scholars for their exceptional performance on the AP tests administered in May 2006.[5]

In the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Program, St. Charles North was represented by two finalists: Alison J. Conn and Raymond H. Hsu[6]. Hsu, the valedictorian[7] for the Class of 2007, and Conn went on to win National Merit Scholarships [8]. The following year, St. Charles North once again boasted two finalists (Patrick Eschenfeldt and Katharine Fragoso)[9] and one winner (Eschenfeldt)[10].

Athletics

Saint Charles North has 35 athletic teams, of which 18 are for boys and 17 are for girls, which compete in the Upstate Eight Conference of the Illinois High School Association. Saint Charles North's teams are dubbed the "North Stars".

In 2010, St. Charles North was awarded a Blue Ribbon, which honors schools that have achieved high levels of performance or significant improvements with emphasis on schools serving disadvantaged students.

Activities

Saint Charles North offers over fifty clubs & activities.

  • Pep Club (Blue Rush)
  • Photo Club
  • Scholastic Bowl
  • R.E.A.C.H. (realizing everyone and anyone can help)
  • School Store
  • Service-Learning Club
  • Spanish National Honor Society
  • Speech Team
  • Sports Medicine
  • Student Council (North Star Council)
  • Student Outreach Society
  • T.E.A.M. Polaris
  • Tech Crew
  • Theater
  • Yearbook (Polaris)

References

  1. ^ School Districts Scramble to Rid Buildings of Mold
  2. ^ BBC News: Fighting mould(sic) the US way
  3. ^ School Designs
  4. ^ a b In 2010, St. Charles North High School was nominated for the blue ribbon award; an educational award given to outstanding schools. 8=>Illinois School Report Card
  5. ^ Eighty-one D303 high school students earn AP Scholars honors
  6. ^ Chicago Sun-Times: Semifinalists vie for scholarships
  7. ^ The Examiner of St. Charles
  8. ^ Chicago Sun-Times: National merit scholars' names
  9. ^ Student Scholars Excel on National Level
  10. ^ National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners announced

External links