Lockport Township High School

Lockport Township High School
Address
1333 East 7th Street
Lockport, Illinois 60441
United States
Coordinates 41°35′22″N 88°1′47″W / 41.58944°N 88.02972°W / 41.58944; -88.02972Coordinates: 41°35′22″N 88°1′47″W / 41.58944°N 88.02972°W / 41.58944; -88.02972
Information
School district Lockport Township High School District 205
Superintendent Todd Wernet
Principal Dennis Hicks
Teaching staff 197.39 (FTE)
Enrollment 3,595 (2013-2014)
Student to teacher ratio 18.21
Color(s) Maroon, White, Gold
            
Nickname Porters
Newspaper The Porter Press
Website www.lths.org
[1]

Lockport Township High School (LTHS) is a public high school in Lockport, Illinois, United States. LTHS ranks in the Top 9 Percent of all high schools in the nation, according to the Washington Post. LTHS is the only Will County school to be included on the list, which ranks schools for effectively preparing students for college. In addition to the city of Lockport and Lockport Township, LTHS also serves the communities of Homer Glen, most of Crest Hill, a section of unincorporated Orland Park and Homer Township.[2] More than 3,800 students are enrolled in grades 9 through 12.[3]

History

Soon after settlers arrived, school classes began in a log cabin on what is now Division Street. The first village school was built in 1857, and housed students of all ages. The three story building was built of local dolomitic limestone, with a four-sided clock tower on its roof. The first graduation commencement was June 28, 1888 with seven graduates. A fire destroyed the school on August 10, 1895. Classes were held in churches and other buildings until a new structure was ready.

Subsequently in 1896 a new school opened, also built of local dolomitic limestone and on the same site as the school that burned. John Barnes, the Joliet architect who designed it, was trained in the Richardson Romanesque style. The new school, like its predecessor, housed all of the village students.

Construction was started in 1909 on a high school at 1222 S. Jefferson.

Central Campus when it was built in 1909

In 1910, Lockport High School opened and was accredited by the North Central Association. Since the time of the dedication, two major additions in 1930 and 1953 have been made to the school. With these additions, the high school now occupies the entire block of Twelfth, Jefferson, Thirteenth, and Madison Streets.

In 1963, Lockport West High School opened as a four-year high school in Romeoville, and in 1964, Lockport Township High School-East Campus opened for freshmen and sophomores at 1333 E. Seventh Street. Juniors and seniors attended the older school, referred to as Lockport Township High School - Central Campus. In 1971, Lockport High School District 205 was separated into two districts. Both Lockport Central and East Campus remained in District 205, while the Lockport West Campus became Romeoville High School, part of Valley View Community Unit School District 365U.

In the spring of 1995, the communities within District 205 passed a referendum to remodel the interior of Lockport East Campus and increase its size, renovate areas of Central Campus, upgrade and expand the technology resources and infrastructure at both campus. The renovation project enabled District 205 to house 3,000 students at East Campus[4] and 1,000 students at Central Campus. The project was finished in the fall of 1997.[4] East Campus was designated to house grades 10-12 and Central Campus became the Freshman Center, housing grade 9. Enrollment in both campuses was 3997 students as of the start of the 2007-2008 year.

Enrollment grew by 1,200 students in the decade prior to 2007,[5] with the result that Central and East Campuses both presently operate over their design capacities. The school board has proposed construction of a new high school building in Homer Glen to ease overcrowding and enable the district to close the Central Campus.[6] In the spring of 2006, voters overwhelmingly rejected the first in a series of six referenda to provide funds for the new school. A later referendum on November 4, 2008, failed by a 55%-45% margin. Major issues of contention in the voting continue to include the proposed boundary line designating the areas to be serviced by each high school, and concerns that Homer Glen voters might try to break from the district and either form a new high school district or join with Homer Glen Elementary district 33-C. Homer Glen already has bought the land that the new high school would be built on and is waiting on the people of Lockport to stop voting down the referendum. To win support, the school board has scaled back its proposals.[7] In the sixth referendum, in April 2011, a proposal for an $85 million bond issue for the new school lost by about 1,300 votes.[6][7] Mobile classrooms were installed in the northeast area of East Campus in 2007 to help reduce overcrowding.[8]

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 3,595 students enrolled in 2013-2014 was:

16.0% of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch.[1]

Athletics

Cheerleading

Back-to-back state champions in 2007 and 2008.

Basketball

In 1978, all of Lockport's levels of boys' basketball went undefeated with the varsity squad winning the Illinois State Championship with a record of 33-0.

Baseball

In 2005 Lockport won the Illinois State AA Championship with a 40-3 record.

Football

In 2002 and 2003 Lockport won back-to-back class 8A football state championships with a combined record of 24-3.

Cross country

In 1996 Lockport High School became the first south-suburban school to win a cross country state title since Bloom Township's win in 1975. The following year, 1997, Lockport won its second consecutive state championship narrowly defeating coach York High School by 1 point. Lockport joins Deerfield, Schaumburg, and York as the only teams to win consecutive cross country state titles since the class division split in 1976.

Softball

The Lady Porters won the state class AA title in 1996/97 with a 37-3 record and in 2003/04 with a record of 35-5.

Volleyball

The Lady Porters volleyball program won the Class AA Volleyball title in 1993/94 with a record of 40-3.

Soccer

Lockport has men and women soccer teams.

Badminton

Lockport has a co-ed badminton team.


Clubs

Porter Press

The Porter Press is the school newspaper of Lockport Township High School, with a staff of writers and photographers. The paper is published 8-10 times a school year. The high school also offers a class in journalism.

Performing arts

Band

LTHS Wind Symphony

The Lockport Band program consists of 230 students in a competitive marching band, two jazz ensembles, two freshmen bands, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Symphony. The band program has a rich history of many accomplishments dating back to 1960 where they were led by Ernest Caneva to the "Music Man" National Band Championship. Another performance of note was the marching band's contribution in the 1986 hit film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The LTHS Wind Symphony has established a reputation as one of the finest and most respected high school bands in Illinois as well as thorough recognition on the national level. They have been selected 19 times to play at the Illinois Superstate Band Festival and selected as the 1999-2000 and 2006-2007 class AAA Illinois Superstate Honor band as well as the 2013-2014 class AAAA Honor Band. They also have performed at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in 1992, 1995, 1999, 2005, and 2008 (tied for the most performances by a single school in the festival's history). Also, the Lockport Township High School Wind Symphony was selected as one of four high school bands throughout the globe to play at the 2008 and 2013 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. In 2012, the Wind Symphony also performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Drama

Every year the LTHS Porter Players put on three productions. The first is the Fall Show which is held at East Campus; they perform One Acts at Central Campus; and they perform a Spring Musical at East Campus.

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Lockport Township High Sch East". ed.gov. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Lockport Township High School District 205" (Archive). Will County Regional Office of Education. Retrieved on July 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ 2010 Illinois High School Report Card: Lockport Township High School East, accessed June 16, 2011
  4. 1 2 Lockport Township High School, East Campus, SchoolDesigns.com website, accessed June 16, 2011
  5. ↑ Susan Kuczka, Mary Owen, and Joseph Ruzich, Cicero Town President Larry Dominick wins re-election, The Chicago Tribune, February 25, 2009
  6. 1 2 Michelle Mullins, Lockport High School considers another referendum, The Herald News; April 21, 2011; updated May 23, 2011; accessed June 16, 2011
  7. 1 2 Tony Graf (2011), Voters again shoot down LTHS building referendum, The Herald News, accessed June 16, 2011.
  8. ↑ Tony Graf, Lockport High School adds mobile classrooms, The Naperville Sun, June 27, 2007
  9. ↑ "Tom Haller Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Ron Coomer Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Alando Forest Tucker". Basketball-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Tony Pashos". database Football.com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
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