For schools with a similar name, see Jefferson High School.
Thomas Jefferson High School is a high school in Rockford, Illinois.
Contents |
Thomas Jefferson was originally built to house a new Junior High School in the late 1950s until 1969 when Jefferson change to senior high school, including ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades was gradual to allow those who graduated in 1974 to attend a potential total of six years. With the elevation of the school to senior high school status, a Junior ROTC battalion was added and the school joined the BIG-9 Conference (now called the Northern Illinois Conference or NIC-10) for sports. Though there were two upper class and three underclass cheer leading squads and a large Pom-pon squad, the only athletic venue for girls was the Girls Athletic Association (GAA) and boys' sport team management.
In the 1969-70 school year traditions for a new high school were created with elections for school rings, mottoes, mascot (keeping the J-Hawk) and school colors (red and white, gold has since been added to the color scheme). The school started with a population of 2400 high school students crowded into a building built for 1800 junior high students. The schedule was a ten hour split day. Upperclassmen were encouraged to start school at 7:00 a.m. and underclassmen at noon until 5:00 p.m. Because of lunchroom crowding there were three lunch hours and open campus was allowed. There was no study hall and little hallway oversight.
During the 1973 year, Superintendent Robert Salisbury announced District 205's need for a new High School in light of the overcrowding that Jefferson and the other schools were facing. In 1974, a Bernard Flinn had died, leaving the Rockford School District $10 million for the building of a new school for the district. The will also stipulated that the new building was not to be named after Flinn.
In 1976, a separate referendum was passed to allow funds for a new high school to be built in southeast Rockford. This referendum passed despite the defeat of a second referendum on the same ballot that was offered to the voters at the same time to increase much needed revenues for the general fund. The school board had asked votes for desperately needed raises in the general funds in the past in order to make up for past shortfalls. Because of the rejection of several past efforts, the school board cut as much as they felt they could and made the announcement that if the referendum did not pass that extra curricular activities at all schools were to be cut.
Because of the defeat of the second referendum most extra curricular activities, including all sporting competition at all levels in the district and other completions such as debates, JROTC drill and rifle team completions outside the Rockford area, were cut or canceled, and all school district building closed after 5:00 p.m. as well as all day on the weekends. An attempts from private sources, such as the YMCA and the Boys Club, to sponsor after school sporting events was soundly quashed by the school board. Some of these extra curricular activities were reinstated, as monies were found, however the sports were not reinstated until the 1977-78 school year after another referendum for the general fund was passed in that summer. Some middle school sports teams were not reinstated for several decades. Middle School Football was partially reinstated in the fall 2002. Girls' volleyball and boys' and girls' basketball were reinstated since the mid 1990s with assistance from Rockford Boys and Girls Clubs.
Construction of the new high school started in the fall of 1976 next to the Rockford Vocational Technical Center, which was on the corner of Samuelson Road and 35th Street.
The tradition of the school district in naming high schools for the area they were located was waived (Guilford High School is in Guilford Township, Auburn High School is located on the far west side of Rockford off Auburn Road, East and West High Schools, built before Auburn and Guilford, were located on the east and west sides of the Rock River separating the city of Rockford). There was also a tradition of naming new Junior High Schools and Middle Schools after US Presidents, such as Lincoln, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt and Wilson Middle Schools.
A push was made by many in the area, specially the students and alumnus of Jefferson itself, to transfer the name of the school from Old Jefferson (the nickname the old building is called by alumni) to the new building. In the spring of 1977 the school board approved the name transfer and decided to rename the older building Bernard W. Flinn Middle School. The staff of Jefferson was transferred to the new campus and the staff of Morris Kennedy was transferred to the renamed Flinn Middle School, with the Morris Kennedy building being closed and put up for sale. (That building was sold to the Ken Rock Community Center a few years later.) The class of 1982 was the first Jefferson High class to complete 4 years at the new Jefferson High School campus.
Jefferson's athletic teams are known as the J-Hawks and Lady J-Hawks. The school's colors are red, white and gold, and some teams wear black as an alternate color.
The 2003 boys bowling team won the first IHSA state championship held for boys bowling.
In March 2005, Jefferson's boys basketball team finished fourth in the IHSA State Tournament.
The 2008 girls bowling team won the IHSA State Tournament.
In 2007, Jefferson High School's journalism team won the IHSA State Championship.[1]
|
|
|||||