Hampshire High School (Illinois)

Hampshire High School
Address
1600 Big Timber Road
Hampshire, Illinois 60140
United States
Coordinates 42°07′22″N 88°29′55″W / 42.1228°N 88.498521°W / 42.1228; -88.498521Coordinates: 42°07′22″N 88°29′55″W / 42.1228°N 88.498521°W / 42.1228; -88.498521
Information
School type Public secondary
Established 1838 (first high school)
2008 (current facility)
School district D300
Superintendent Fred Heid
Dean Shannon Jamrozy
Principal Brett Bending
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1074 (2010)
 • Grade 12 271
Hours in school day 7 hours, 13 minutes
Campus type Rural
Color(s) Purple and White
Athletics conference Fox Valley Conference
Nickname Whip-Purs
Rival Burlington Central High School
Newspaper Whip-Pur Tails
Website http://hhs.d300.org
[1]

Hampshire High School (Illinois) (commonly referred to as Hampshire or HHS) is a public high school for students in grades 9 through 12 located in Hampshire, Illinois. Hampshire High School serves students from Hampshire and surrounding areas, including Gilberts, Pingree Grove, Carpentersville, Huntley, and Sleepy Hollow. The school is located at the northern edge of Hampshire.

Hampshire High School is part of Community Unit School District 300, or D300, and is the newest of three high schools serving the district. Feeder schools to Hampshire include Hampshire Middle School and Dundee Middle School. The school is a member of the Illinois High School Association, Big Northern Conference. HHS plans to move to the Fox Valley Conference for the 2011-12 sports season. This would mean a schedule including the other two D300 schools.

The school colors are purple and white and the mascot is a cat typically depicted as a panther or a puma.

History

During the mid-19th century nine one-room school houses were built in Hampshire Township. These schools served all grade levels until 1838 when a high school and grade school was built at State Street and Mill Street in downtown.

After the school burned down in 1851, it was rebuilt in the same location. The nine one-room school houses served as grade schools into the 20th century.

In 1896 a square brick high school was constructed. Additions added to the capacity of the school and it remained Hampshire High School until a new building was constructed on South State Street. Stairs from the old high school can still be seen.

All Hampshire schools joined Carpentersville-based District 300 in 1948.

Planning for the combined Hampshire High School and Middle School began in 1950 and the school officially opened on Friday, September 5, 1952.[2] That building was 32,098 square feet (2,982.0 m2). It opened with 105 high school students, 46 boys and 59 girls, as well as 58 middle school students, 32 boys and 26 girls. The main sports gym was not finished until January 1953. 1,000 people attended the first open house of the new gym. The first football field was added in 1964 when Ronald Ellett started the football program at Hampshire High School.In 1994 Coach Ron Ellett was inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches' Hall of Fame.[3] During his tenure Coach Ron Ellett guided the Whippurs to four conference titles, two State Championships and a State Runner-Up. Ron Ellett was also the High School baseball coach and lead the baseball team to their first District Championship in 1977.

In 2008 the newest Hampshire High School building was built on 103 acres (0.42 km2) of former Tamms family farmland. The old school building became the middle school exclusively.

Facility

The current Hampshire High School building was completed with construction in 2008, ready for the 2008-09 school year, although it was late. The building cost around $70 million and is the newest high school in District 300. A new high school was needed after exponential population growth. The tight knit community of the old Hampshire High School will be missed, along with athletic contests housed within the old gym on "Pack the Place" game nights where the noise level within would compare proportionally with the old Chicago Stadium.

The new Hampshire High School contains 7,500,000 cubic feet (210,000 m3) under roof and includes 65 traditional classrooms, 11 musical rooms, 5 art rooms, 13 science labs, 3 business labs, 5 industrial arts rooms, 3 family and consumer science labs, 8,100 library books, 75 lunch tables, 2,500 seat competition gym, indoor track, 750 seat auditorium, 6 computer labs, 1,200 data drops, 76 miles (122 km) of network cable, 48 wireless access points, and 89 cameras.[4]

Many of the class rooms are equipped with SmartBoards and every room has a projector, camera, and DVD/VHS player. When at full capacity HHS is expected to be able to accommodate around 2500 students. However, this maximum will come to fruition over many years due to the slowing of neighborhood building.

Many people notice that there is not a pool at Hampshire High School. Some reasons that made the decision so are that the already high building cost and the feeling of it as unnecessary. When a pool is added it will go on the east side by the locker rooms.

Capacity
Auditorium - 750
Main Competition Gym - 2500
Field House - 1900
Commons - 900
Classrooms - About 35-45
Lecture Hall - 100

Safety

Hampshire High School is filled with surveillance cameras throughout the school grounds. This feature allows administrators to view nearly every inch of the building. There is also a police officer officially on duty at the school. Emergency buttons are placed within the halls and call buttons are in every classroom.

Schedule

Hampshire High School utilizes period scheduling. Students attend nine classes a semester, two semesters a year. All District 300 high schools use the period format.

A school day goes as follows:

1st period (7:30-8:15)
2nd period (8:20-9:05)
3rd period (9:10-9:58)
4th period (10:03-10:48)
5th period (10:53-11:38)
6th period (11:43-12:28)
7th period (12:33-1:18)
8th period (1:23-2:08)
9th period (2:13-2:58)

Each of the nine classes are 45 minutes long with 5 minute passing periods. The total school day lasts for seven hours and 23 minutes.

Every other Monday, however, the school has late start days. Classes begin at 9:45 and end at the normal time. Classes are shortened to thirty minutes and passing periods are five minutes.

Industrial Arts

On the far west side of the building is the industrial arts wing. There one can find a Computer Aided Design (CAD) lab, electricity lab, wood lab, and welding lab. The CAD lab features new widescreen computers with AutoDesk AutoCAD 2010 and Google SketchUp installed. The wood lab is home to a state-of-the-art SawStop table saw which is usually not found in schools due to the $10,000 price tag. In addition, there is about $7,000 worth of Bosch tools and a $30,000 ShopBot CNC machine. This is not the only wood lab, however, there is also one on the east side behind the auditorium. This shop, called the scene shop, is used to fabricate all of the sets required for school plays.

Athletics

Conference: Fox Valley

Arena names: Gym and Field House

Sports Teams
Boys

Girls

State Championships

Math Team

In 2010 and 2011, the HHS math team came in third place in the Big Northern Conference. Awards have included 1st-place finishes in the subjects of Geometry, Calculus, and Algebra.

National Honor Society

The National Honor Society, or NHS, is a major part of HHS. For the 2010-11 school season more than 50 students were inducted into NHS. NHS consists of volunteer work and school improvement. Students in NHS must fulfill a 15-hour minimum of community service.

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hampshire High School
  2. ↑ http://www.d300.org/about-us/alumni-history/history/d300-schools/high-schools/hampshire
  3. ↑ http://www.ihsfca.com/Hall_of_Fame.htm,
  4. ↑ http://www.d300.org/about-us/alumni-history/history/d300-schools/high-schools/hampshire
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