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Vernon Hills High School

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Coordinates: 42°13′41″N 87°57′3″W / 42.22806°N 87.95083°W / 42.22806; -87.95083 (Vernon Hills High School)
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42°13′41″N 87°57′3″W / 42.22806°N 87.95083°W / 42.22806; -87.95083 (Vernon Hills High School)

Vernon Hills High School
Address
Map
145 Lakeview Parkway

Vernon Hills
,
Illinois
60061

United States
Information
School typePublic secondary
MottoExcellence Is Our Standard
Established1999 (freshmen only)
2000 (all grades)
School districtCHS District 128
PrincipalDr. Ellen Cwick
Faculty106
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,387
Campus typeSuburban
Color(s)  Royal blue
  Silver
MascotCody the Cougar
NicknameCougars
NewspaperThe Scratching Post
YearbookContinuum
Websitewww.vhhscougars.org
File:Vernonhills.jpg

Vernon Hills High School, or VHHS, is a public four-year high school located in Vernon Hills, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Community High School District 128, which also includes Libertyville High School.

History

Following the successful passage of a $48.5 million bond referendum in 1997, construction on the school began. The doors opened on September 7, 1999 for all freshmen in District 128. Construction continued for the next year, upon which the school opened for all grades in August 2000. The school was formally dedicated on April 9, 2000. The first graduating class was that of 2002. The Cougar mascot was chosen following a poll of the freshmen and sophomore students attending the new school in August 2000.

Academics

In 2010, Vernon Hills had a mean composite ACT score of 24.7, and graduated 95.9% of its senior class.[1] The average class size is 20.3.[2] Vernon Hills has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievements Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act.[3]

The staff consists of 111 teachers, of whom 97 hold a masters degree or beyond.[1]

In 2009, Newsweek released a list of the best high schools in America. Vernon Hills High School was ranked 638st nation-wide and 14th state-wide.[4]

Athletics

Vernon Hills competes in the North Suburban (Prairie) Conference. Its mascot is the Cougar.

The VHHS football team finished the 2003-04 season with the best record in the North Suburban (Prairie) Conference. It finished the 2005-06 season undefeated, winning the conference. It has qualified for state finals in every year except the 2004-05 season.[5]

The boys bowling team has also been successful, placing 3rd in the state during the 2005-06 season. They have since won Sectionals in both 2008 and 2009.[5]

The 2007-08 Pom Pons team won a state championship in the TEAMDance Illinois Class AA Open Dance category.[6] They defended their state title with another win in 2009.[7]

The boys volleyball team has been very successful within the North Suburban (Prairie) Conference. They have earned four conference championships, in 2003, 2008, 2009 (when they finished 10-0 in conference play) and 2010. They were the first team of any sport at VHHS to become back-to-back conference champions.[8]

In the 2007 season the varsity baseball team won in the Sectional semifinals but lost in the Sectional finals against the Lake Forest High School Scouts.[citation needed]

In the 2010 season the Girl's Track and Field team won their IHSA AA Sectional.[9]

A complete list of notable state finishes can be found under State Competition Placements, below.

Activities

Vernon Hills High School offers more than thirty student organizations, including[10]:

Fine Arts

Theatre

Vernon Hills High School's Backlight Theatre Company presents two plays, a musical, and two nights of student-directed one acts each year. Recent productions include the following:[11]

Music

Ensembles

Vernon Hills High School offers a variety of musical ensembles for its students to perform in. These include the following:

  • 3 Symphonic Bands
  • 3 Orchestras
  • 6 Choirs
  • 2 Jazz Bands
  • Jazz Strings

The Symphony Orchestra has been invited to play at the international Midwest Clinic and the MENC National Conference. The Wind Ensemble has performed in New York City and at Walt Disney World's Epcot in Florida. The Vernon Hills High School Band was also the Superstate Honors Band for the AA division in 2010.

State Competitions

The VHHS music department has always performed very well at the IHSA state competition, placing 4th in its class in its first year of existence. VHHS has placed within the top three schools in the state every year since 2004, and as of 2009 has placed first in the state in Class A for three consecutive years.[12] The complete record of notable music department state finishes can be found under State Competition Placements, below.

In 2006 and 2009, the VHHS Wind Ensemble was selected as the Class AA Honor Band at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign-sponsored Superstate band competition, recognizing the VHHS Wind Ensemble as one of the top high school concert bands in Illinois[13].

FBLA and DECA

VHHS also sponsors two award-winning business clubs. FBLA sent five students to compete in the National Competition in Anaheim in the summer of 2009. FBLA has had students place in the top 10 of Accounting at the National level for two straight years (2008, 2009). DECA sent 13 state winners to the International Competition in Orlando. VHHS's DECA Financial Analysis team, which consisted of two freshmen, Sean Hogan and Jake Dinkel, placed 7th at the International Competition out of the over 150 teams competing in 2007[14]. Also, one of DECA's written events by senior Cody Meltzer placed 8th at the competition in 2007.[14]

Math Team

The Math Team earned VHHS its first state championship when it won first place in its division at the 2001 ICTM State Math Competition. The team took 3rd place at the 2007 competition, where its freshmen and junior teams each took home 2nd place for written competition.[citation needed]

The Math Team earned a state championship in division 3AA at the 2008 ICTM State Math Competition, where all 13 VHHS teams placed within in the top six in the state. Moya Chen placed first on the Algebra I test and VHHS took first place with its Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II teams. Also taking first place honors were the Frosh/Soph 8-person team and the Relay team of David Kim, Brynan Qiu, Parin Kadakia, and Paul Juhn[15].

At the 2009 ICTM State Math Competition, VHHS Math Team once again took first place in division 3AA. The Junior/Senior relay team of Max Candocia, Nishant Nangia, Parin Kadakia, and Bryan Maldonado took first place.

In 2010, VHHS Math Team placed 3rd, after a strong performance from the Calculator Team of Rachel Wells, David Kim, Andrew Tung, Udit Nangia, and Parin Kadakia. Additionally, Sean Hogan placed 1st in the state for the pre-calculus competition. Last, but not least, Kenny Shavel, placed 3rd in the oral competition, being the first Vernon Hills oralist to place in the top five.[16]

WYSE

The Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering club at VHHS continues to be successful in their 1500 division. They have placed at the state level in many years past. A team of 14 students compete in the events of Math, Biology, Chemistry, English, and Physics, with each student taking two tests, and at least two students per each subject. The competition takes place at a regional, sectional, and state level. Regional and sectional levels are usually successful, and have resulted in first-place finishes. The team is coached by Joshua Ravenscraft, physics teacher, who has lead the team for six years.[17] The WYSE team has placed within the top three schools in the state for seven of its eight years, and won its first state championship in 2009.[18] A complete record of state competitions can be found under State Competition Placements, below.

State Competition Placements

Activity 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
IHSA Boys Bowling 3rd
IHSA Music (Band, Choir, Orchestra) 4th 4th 24th 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd
Wind Ensemble (Superstate) 1st 1st
ICTM Math 1st 4th 4th 5th 7th 7th 3rd 1st 1st 3rd
IDTA Dance: Hip Hop 4th
IDTA Pom Pons: Dance 3rd 2nd 5th
JETS Engineering Challenge (Nationwide) 1st
Science Olympiad 3rd 2nd
TDI Dance: AA Open Dance 1st 1st 2nd
TDI Dance: AA Open Pom 2nd 2nd 1st
WYSE Academic Challenge 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st

References

  1. ^ a b [1]
  2. ^ Illinois School Report Card
  3. ^ Illinois School Report Card
  4. ^ The Complete List: 1,500 Top U.S. Schools
  5. ^ a b "IHSA Season Summaries". Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  6. ^ "TEAMDance Illinois State Championship" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  7. ^ "TEAMDance Illinois State Championship" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  8. ^ "Vernon Hills High School". Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  9. ^ "IHSA Girls Track & Field Results". Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  10. ^ "Student Organizations - Vernon Hills High School". Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  11. ^ "Past Productions - Vernon Hills High School". Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  12. ^ "IHSA Music Records Menu". Retrieved July 13, 2006.
  13. ^ "Music Department - Band - Vernon Hills High School". Retrieved July 13, 2006.
  14. ^ a b "2007 ICDC Entrepreneurship Participating-Independent Winners" (PDF). Retrieved 7 January 2009. [dead link]
  15. ^ "Division 3AA - 2008 State Finals Results" (PDF). Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  16. ^ http://www.ictm.org/links/contest.html
  17. ^ "Ravenscraft - About Me - Vernon Hills High School". Retrieved March 13, 2010.
  18. ^ WYSE Academic Challenge
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