Rochelle Township High School
Rochelle Township High School, commonly referred to as RTHS, is a secondary school located in Rochelle, Illinois. Originally built in 1918, with nearly a dozen additions built on over the next 80 years, the entire edifice was replaced in 2006 with a new building,[1] located about a mile north of the old one.
RTHS is the only school operated by Rochelle Township High School District 212 (this leads to a somewhat unusual situation whereby the school has both a principal and district superintendent with general authority over one school). The district includes portions of Ogle, Lee, and DeKalb counties. Approximately one-half of the students come from Rochelle Community Consolidated District 231, which includes the middle school and elementary schools from Rochelle proper. The remaining student population comes from a variety of other elementary school districts in the area.
Despite its name, the school is located in Flagg Township; there is no township named "Rochelle" within Ogle County, nor anywhere else in the United States, for that matter.
Sports
Conference affiliation
For over forty years, Rochelle (whose teams are known as the Hubs) competed in the North Central Illinois Conference, and was one of twelve schools in the single most stable conference in Illinois high school sports at all levels. But by the mid-2000s, the Hubs' domination of NCIC football (nine consecutive conference championships) caused the school to seek new conference affiliation, in the hopes that more recognition would follow from membership in a more competitive conference. Accordingly, in 2006, RTHS became one of the founding members of the Western Sun Conference.[2] However, the conference lacked a feeling of cohesion, and after only three years, several of the WSC's teams indicated a desire to try a new arrangement. These WSC schools, along with some schools wishing to follow Rochelle out of the NCIC, formed the new Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference. This forced the dissolution of the WSC after the 2009-10 school year.
The Hubs are currently in the Western Division of the NI-Big 12, along with LaSalle, Geneseo, Sterling, Ottawa.
Football
Rochelle has historically been a football powerhouse. While the school has only one state championship (1909), it has nonetheless had a prominent program for much of its history. For example, over the course of the 1977 season, Rochelle became the first team in conference history to shut out the entire conference. And under current head coach Kevin Crandall, the Hubs enjoyed twelve consecutive appearances in the state playoffs.
Notable alumni
- Joan Allen (1974),[3] actress
- Scot Hollonbeck, wheelchair racer
Administration
The current principal is Jason Harper[4] and the district superintendent is Richard Craven.
References
External links
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