West Prairie High School

West Prairie High School
Type Public high school
Principal Mr. John Bushmire
Students 225
Grades 9–12
Location 18575 E. 800th Street
Sciota, Illinois, USA
Coordinates 40°33′12″N 90°45′07″W / 40.55341°N 90.75181°WCoordinates: 40°33′12″N 90°45′07″W / 40.55341°N 90.75181°W
Campus Rural
Colors      Black
     Silver
Website West Prairie High School

West Prairie High School, also known as Sciota West Prairie, or WPHS, is a public four-year high school located at 18575 East 800th Street near Sciota, Illinois, a village of McDonough County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. WPHS is part of West Prairie Community Unit School District 103, which serves the communities of Blandinsville, Colchester, Fandon, Good Hope, Sciota, and Tennessee; and includes West Prairie Middle School, North Elementary School, and South Elementary School.[1][2] The campus is located just south of Sciota, Illinois, 10 miles northwest of Macomb, Illinois, and serves a mixed village and rural residential community. The school is in the Macomb micropolitan statistical area.[3] West Prairie High School was formed by the consolidation of Colchester High School and Northwestern High School in 2003.

Academics

West Prairie High School offers courses in the following academic departments:[4]

Athletics

West Prairie High School competes in the West Central Conference[5] and is a member school in the Illinois High School Association. Its mascot is the Cyclone. The school has no state championships on record in team athletics and activities.[6] They form a cooperative agreement in 2009-2011 with nearby Macomb High School for boys swimming and diving, and Avon and Bushnell-Prairie City high schools for boys and girls track and field.[7]

History

The history of West Prairie High School includes the history of its preceding component schools:

Blandinsville High School

The first Blandinsville, Illinois area school was begun in the late 1830s. The town was not actually platted until 1842 and began to develop from there. A school building was erected for the town's children in 1868. Due to the growing population of school-aged children, a new school building was erected in 1905. An addition which included a gymnasium was built onto the stricture in 1924. Tragedy struck the town when the school building burned to the ground in 1934. Plans to build a new school were immediately begun and set in motion. The children went to class in several builidngs around town as the new school was being erected. The building was completed in time for the Class of 1936's graduation ceremony. The State of Illinois' consolidation movement of the late 1940s caught up to the towns of northwest McDonough County. In 1959 the towns of Blandinsville, Good Hope, and Sciota agreed to join forces to create one large school district. This occurrence created the Northwestern School District. The high school was located in Sciota. Blandinsville's school building continued to serve the Northwestern School District through 1975 as a grade school. A new building was built in Good Hope, allowing for the closing of the Blandinsville school. The building was given to the town of Blandinsville.[8][9]

Shortly after the Blandinsville School building was given to the city it was converted into an emergency fallout shelter in which the nuclear fallout shelter signs still hang outside. In the 90's the roof began to fail and was contracted and replaced. The building was partially renovated with the intention of being transformed into a community center. The district that Blandinsville originally consolidated into (Northwestern) later consolidated again to include the towns of Colchester and Tennessee to create West Prairie which held their spring plays in the Blandinsville gymnasium for several years. However, only a few years after the roof was re-done it failed again, and the contractor that did the job was nowhere to be found. With everyone discouraged and insufficient funds to fix the roof again it was sold to a private citizen for $1.00. The private citizen currently rents a few of the still decent rooms inside for storage. The roof still leaks and the gap constantly grows larger. Due to interior ceiling collapse the southwest stairwell is for the most part impassable as well as the classrooms on the southwest side on the 3rd floor. The southwest corner of the gymnasium has begun to warp and buckle due to water damage. The doors and windows outside and inside remain mostly intact and the large cast iron boiler in the basement still remains. There are still a few desks, chairs, and tables in the basement in what is left of the old boys locker room (partially destroyed when the plans for renovating the school were still in play). The folding seats in the gymnasium remain except for the balcony (upper deck area) in which the seating has been removed. All the lockers have been removed. All the fire, electrical, water, and plumbing systems have been disconnected.[10]

Colchester High School

Colchester, Illinois traces its roots of child education back to the late 19th century. The first graduating class from Colchester High School received their diplomas in 1891, or possibly 1892. The original high school building closed in 1969. The new building graduated its first senior class in 1970. Colchester High School reached enrollments as high as 230 students in the "baby-booming" mid-1970s. Enrollments in the 200 to 250 range were the norm for the late 1950s and 1960s with Colchester High School's largest graduating class occurring in 1961. In the late 1940s (approximate) the students from nearby Tennessee High School joined the Colchester school system. Colchester built a new grade school building in 1955 and were joined by the kids of Tennessee Grade School in 1956. The school system existed through the early 21st century, but consolidation talks began between Colchester and Sciota Northwestern High School during this time. The consolidation became a reality after the 2003 school year with the creation of the West Prairie School District.[11]

The Colchester school building serves the West Prairie system as there are two West Prairie Schools located in Colchester, the Middle and Elementary schools. The West Prairie Middle School served as Colchester High School from 1970 until its closing in 2003, along with the original high school building.[12]

Good Hope High School

Good Hope, Illinois residents supported a school in their town for many years. A school system began in Good Hope in the late 19th century, possibly early 20th century. The Good Hope High School joined a consolidation effort of several small towns including its neighbors to the west, Sciota and Blandansville in 1959. The consolidated school district was known as the Northwestern School District with the high school located in Sciota. Good Hope school remained open as host to the Northwestern School District Grade School. The Northwestern School District recently consolidated with Colchester to form the West Prairie School District. Sciota remained home of the high school and Good Hope now hosts a Grade School for the West Prairie School District.[13]

Northwestern High School

In the late 1950s the three towns of Blandinsville, Good Hope, and Sciota undertook a consolidation effort regarding the education of their children. The result was the creation of the Northwestern School District in 1959 with Marion E. Herzog as School board President . A building for the new school district was located on Route 9 just south of Sciota. The Northwestern School District served the three communities and the surrounding farm kids for about 44 years. In 2003 the neighboring town of Colchester agreed to join forces with the Northwestern School District. This new effort created the West Prairie School District. The high school for the West Prairie School District remained located in the Northwestern high school building south of Sciota.[14]

Tennessee High School

Tennessee High School was established in the late 19th century. The school deactivated in the late 1940s (approximate). Tennessee, Illinois continued to offer a grade school (grades 1 - 5) for the town and surrounding country kids. The grade school closed in 1956 after Colchester built a new grade school in their town. The students of Tennessee attended school as part of the Colchester school system after the Tennessee deactivation. The students of Tennessee now attend West Prairie High School in Sciota. The grammar school students attend school in Colchester.[15]

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ http://www.westprairie.org/
  2. ↑ http://www.ihsa.org/school/schools/1912.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/app2.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.westprairie.org/wphs/pdf/registration-handbook-2010-2011.pdf West Prairie High School Registration Handbook 2010-2011
  5. ↑ http://www.ihsa.org/school/conf.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.ihsa.org/school/schools/1912.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.ihsa.org/school/coop.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.mcdonough.k12.il.us/northwestboard/
  9. ↑ http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id290.html Illinois High School Glory Days, Blandinsville High School, Accessed February 1, 2010
  10. ↑ http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id290.html Clayton Cook, Account of Blandinsville School Buildings, Illinois High School Glory Days, Blandinsville High School, Accessed February 1, 2010
  11. ↑ http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id128.html Illinois High School Glory Days, Colchester High School, Accessed February 1, 2010
  12. ↑ http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id128.html Illinois High School Glory Days, Colchester High School, Accessed February 1, 2010
  13. ↑ http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id178.html Illinois High School Glory Days, Good Hope High School, Accessed February 1, 2010
  14. ↑ http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id523.html Illinois High School Glory Days, Sciota Northwestern High School, Accessed February 1, 2010
  15. ↑ http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id136.html Illinois High School Glory Days, Tennessee High School, Accessed February 1, 2010

External links