Lemont High School

Lemont High School
Address
800 Porter Street Lemont, Illinois, 60439 United States
Coordinates	41°40′27″N 87°59′28″W / 41.6742°N 87.991°W / 41.6742; -87.991
Information
School type	public secondary
School district	Lemont HS 210
Superintendent	Dr. Mary Ticknor[1]
CEEB Code	142590[2]
Principal	Eric Michaelsen[1]
Grades	9–12
Gender	coed
Enrollment	1,411[3]
Average class size	22.6[4]
Campus type	suburban
Color(s)	navy blue      gold[5]
Athletics conference	South Suburban[5]
Team name	Indians[5]
Average ACT scores	22.7[3]
Newspaper	Tom-Tom[6]
Website	http://www.lhs210.net/

Lemont High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Lemont, Illinois, a south-western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Lemont Township High School District 210, which serves the Village of Lemont and small portions of Woodridge and Downers Grove.

History

Early beginnings

An old surviving document shows graduates in 1891, although Lemont High School was not officially formed until 1906, when five students (four girls and one boy) began meeting for class in the school building located at 410 McCarthy Road. The high school leased three rooms in the building at a rate of $500 per year. The original building is now used for condominiums, but the Central Elementary school is still connected to the East end of the building.^[7]

Building history

By 1925, after many failed attempts, an 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m²) building was finally constructed at 800 Porter Street, where the school is located to this day. The original building cost $125,000 to build and included eight classrooms, a library, a science lab, a home economics room, and a gymnasium.^[7]

Expansion for growth

Student enrollment almost doubled during the 1950s, which in turn led to three expansionary construction projects. Among the new additions were an 11,500-square-foot (1,070 m²) gymnasium (completed in 1950), and 38,000 square feet (3,500 m²) worth of classroom additions (completed by 1959). By the end of the decade, the school was equipped with wood, metal, industrial arts, and electrical shops.^[7]

Tornado damage in the 1970s

After occupying 6.5 acres (26,000 m²) since the late 1920s, Lemont High School expanded to 29 acres (120,000 m²) by 1967, with a significant portion of that land being used for athletic facilities. A $1.1 million project was completed in 1971, which added a new auditorium, kitchen, locker rooms, and more. On June 13, 1976, the school suffered nearly $500,000 in tornado damages. Shortly thereafter, the community passed a bond to rebuild.^[7]

Growth in the 1990s

The student population at LHS began to climb in the 1990s, which resulted in yet another expansion in 1997. The $24.5 million project added a three-story classroom addition and a fieldhouse, essentially doubling the building’s square footage to 300,000. A unique parking facility was also built as part of the expansion to help ease severe parking problems for students and staff.^[7]

Also in the late 1990s, filming took place at Lemont High School for the movie Save the Last Dance. The school was depicted as the main character's Midwestern high school. Portions of the front of the high school were shown during the beginning of the movie along with the main staircase inside the school. Other areas throughout the town were also shown in the movie.^[7]

Sports complex

Lemont High School’s facilities expanded off campus in 2003 with the completion of the Lemont High School Athletic Complex, located at 131st Street and Bell Road. The 26-acre (110,000 m²) facility serves as home to the school’s baseball, soccer, and softball teams.^[7]

2006 expansion

The stage of the Performing Arts Center

With student enrollment continuing to grow each year, Lemont High School has undergone further expansion recently. In 2005, the community passed a $29.6 million referendum allowing the school to start an expansion which included a new and improved auditorium, approximately 30 new classrooms, a new wood shop, a turf football field with improved lighting and expanded audience seating, an expanded cafeteria area, additional parking, safety upgrades, and much more. Construction started in early 2006. The new addition of 30 classrooms as well as the football stadium enhancements were completed before the start of the 2007 school year. Construction on the new auditorium (now called the Performing Arts Center) was completed in March 2008. Other areas of the school, mainly parking lots and roads, were completed in the summer months of 2008.

The expansion included features that would benefit every Lemont High School student:

• A new 67,500-square-foot (6,270 m²) classroom addition—which was built next to the school and "connected" with the existing structure in the summer of 2007—added more than 25 classrooms, computer and science labs, and other amenities. The new classroom addition opened at the start of the 2007-08 school year, and provides the school with space to accommodate up to 2,100 students.
• The football stadium—which also serves as home for the track and field programs—underwent an extensive renovation. This included a regrading of the playing surface and the installation of synthetic turf, as well as the addition of seating for more than 2,000 fans, a new pressbox, a new concession stand, and new lights. The stadium debuted in August 2007.
• A stand-alone building—the Woods Technology Learning Center—was constructed to greatly expand the classrooms, work space, and resources for the school's successful industrial technology department.
• The school's old auditorium was demolished, and in its place, the new Performing Arts Center was built. The Performing Arts Center—home to the drama, music, and forensics departments—opened in March 2008 and includes seating for nearly 850, a fly tower that is utilized for storage, state-of-the-art sound and lighting, and an orchestra pit.

Currently, the 360,000-square-foot (33,000 m²) school covers 30 acres (120,000 m²) of land. It continues to stand where it was originally built over 80 years ago.^[7] The 2006 construction project, which lasted nearly two years, was named the K-12 Education "Project of the Year" in Midwest Construction magazine's "Best of 2008" competition^[8]

Academics

The back of Lemont High School, near the Performing Arts Center, gymnasium, and field house

On average, 85 percent of Lemont High School graduates continue their education by enrolling in a post-secondary institution after receiving their diplomas. Lemont High School has made Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act eight times in as many years, and consistently scores above the state average on the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE), which all juniors must take each year.^[9]

Lemont High School's enrollment of nearly 1,500 students can choose from more than 175 course offerings in eight departments, and also has access to classes at the Wilco Area Career Center in Romeoville, Illinois.

For the 2007-2008 school year, Lemont High School had average Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) scores of 161 in Reading, 162 in Mathematics, and 163 in Science. The school graduated 96.0% of its senior class. The average class size was 20.2. The school achieved Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act.^[10] The school spent an average of $15,679 per student for the school year. The collective performance of the Class of 2009 on the PSAE landed Lemont High School on the Chicago Tribune's list of the top 50 high schools in the Chicago area for 2008.

The school's academic standing improved in the 2008-2009 school year with average PSAE scores of 163 in Reading, 163 in Mathematics, and 164 in Science. Lemont High School again achieved Adequate Yearly Progress with 73.6% of students meeting or surpassing standards. 96.2% of the school's senior class graduated. For the year, the school's average class size was 17.8.^[11]

In 2010, Lemont High School ranked 49th in Chicago Tribune's list of "Top Chicagoland High Schools" with 69.2% of the school's members of the Class of 2011 meeting or exceeding standards on the PSAE.^[12] This marked the third straight year that LHS ranked on the list.

During the 2010-2011 school year, average PSAE scores were 162 in Reading, 163 in Mathematics, and 164 in Science. For the second time in as many years, the school failed to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress. The school graduated 91.2% of its senior class.^[13]

For the 2012-2013 school year, average PSAE scores were 163 in Reading, 163 in Mathematics, and 165 in Science. The school achieved Adequate Yearly Progress and graduated 95.8% of its senior class.^[4]

Departments

The Academic Departments at Lemont High School are:

• Career & Technical Education
• English
• Fine Arts
• Foreign Language
• Mathematics
• Physical Education, Health & Driver Education
• Science
• Social Studies
• Special Education

Athletics

The LHS Indians logo

Lemont competes in the South Suburban Conference (SSC) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), which governs most sports and competitive activities in the state. Teams are stylized as the Indians (see Naming controversy).

The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in bowling, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, and volleyball.^[14] Young men may compete in baseball, football, and wrestling, while young women may compete in cheerleading and softball.^[14] While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school's athletic department also sponsors a poms team.^[14]

The school's teams have finished in the top four of the following IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments or meets:^[15]

• Baseball: State Champs (2013-14)
• Basketball (girls): 3rd place (1979–80)
• Bowling (girls): 3rd place (2003–04)
• Cheerleading: 4th place (2014-15) 3rd place (2005–06,11-12); 2nd place (2006–07, 07–08); State Champions (2008–09, 09-10,10-11,13-14)
• Football: 2nd place (2007–08, 08–09, 14–15)
• Soccer (girls): 2nd place (2008–09); 3rd place (2010–11)
• Softball: 3rd place (1988–89); 2nd place (1987–88)
• Track & Field (boys): 2nd place (1999–2000)
• Wrestling: 3rd place (2009–10); 4th place (2010–11)
• Golf (Boys): 3rd place (2011-2012)

Naming controversy

Lemont High School's teams had been known as the "Injuns" since the 1960s, when an athletic director christened the school with the name to distinguish it from the many others using Native American names as their team name. In 2005, after seeking community input, the school board opted to change the name used by school teams to the Titans.^[16] After a new school board was voted into power in the spring of 2005, the school removed the Titans name, and changed the name to Indians.

Activities and clubs

The archway in the front of the school

Extra-curricular opportunities are available to each student. In order to keep the system of verifying eligibility manageable, the Illinois High School Association guidelines for athletics are used as a basis for eligibility for all extra-curricular activities at Lemont High School. Extra-curricular activities at Lemont High School are placed into three classifications: Clubs, Competitive Extra-Curricular Activities, and Co-Curricular Activities.

Notable alumni

• Jeff Duncan, Former MLB player (New York Mets)
• David Molk, NFL player (Philadelphia Eagles)
• Steve Grand, Country Music Singer
• Graham Pocic, NFL player (St. Louis Rams)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lemont High School.

• Official website