John Hersey High School


John Hersey High School is a four-year public high school located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago in the United States. It has its students from Arlington Heights and also enrolls students from Prospect Heights, Mount Prospect and a small fraction of Des Plaines. Named after writer John Hersey, it is part of Township High School District 214 which also includes Buffalo Grove High School, Elk Grove High School, Prospect High School, Rolling Meadows High School, and Wheeling High School.

Feeder schools

Public middle schools whose graduates usually attend Hersey include Thomas Middle School, MacArthur Middle School and River Trails Middle School. JHHS also receives students from several private schools such as Quest Academy, St. James School, St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic School, St. Emily Catholic School, St. Paul Lutheran School, St. Peter Lutheran School, Our Lady of the Wayside School, Christian Liberty Academy and St. John Brebeuf Catholic School.

History

John Hersey High School was opened in the fall of 1968 in Arlington Heights, Illinois, in order to support the growing population of High School District 214. These towns include Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mt. Prospect, Prospect Heights and Wheeling. John Hersey High School's colors are orange, brown, and white, and the mascot is the husky. John Hersey High School is known as one of the few schools in the state that specifically caters to students with special needs. The hard-of-hearing population at JHHS is one of the largest in the area and well noted. Hersey also welcomed the CLS program, formerly housed at Wheeling High School, to its school in 2006. JHHS built a new fine arts and fitness section in June 2009.
The Hersey Band's excellence was recognized through placement on the John Philip Sousa Foundation's Roll of Honor of Historic High School Concert Bands. Hersey Bands were founded by band director Don Caneva. During Caneva's ten-year reign at Hersey, his bands brought home over 100 first-place awards.
A few scenes from the 2010 remake A Nightmare on Elm Street were filmed at Hersey in the first week of May 2009.

Academics

According to U.S. News & World Report, JHHS is ranked as the 1st high school in District 214, the 13th high school in Illinois, and as the 286th high school in the United States in 2019.
Hersey offers 23 AP courses, and 69% of its students will have taken at least one AP Exam by the time of graduation. JHHS also offers 82 Career and Technical Education Courses approved by Illinois' CTE Program, including courses in accounting, business, computer programming, construction, cosmetology, engineering, marketing, nutrition, nursing, parenting, and record keeping. Hersey's Fine Arts Department offers courses in art history, band, ceramics, choir, dance, guitar, music theory, orchestra, painting, photography, and theater. American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German and Spanish are the foreign languages offered to students.
Hersey's student-to-teacher ratio is 17:1, and the average class size is 19 students. The school's graduation rate in 2019 was at 94%.
The class of 2017's average ACT score was 25, placing it higher than District 214's average score of 23 and Illinois' average score of 21. In terms of subject proficiency, 72% of JHHS students are proficient in math, and 78% are proficient in reading. These are the highest proficiency scores in District 214. Hersey has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test that comprises a part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Activities

John Hersey High School won 1st place in the 2007 National Deaf Academic Bowl competition. They won again in 2019.
In 2007, the Hersey Huskie Rugby Club went to the Tier II State Championship, but lost to the Morton Mustangs.
The Hersey Marching Huskies won the University of Illinois' field competition in 2006 and won the best overall award, the Governor's Trophy in 2009.
In 2016, the Hersey Marching Huskies swept class 4A at the Illinois State Marching Championships and ended up placing 7th overall.
The Hersey Symphonic Band was also named the 2017 Honor Band at the 2017 Illinois SuperState competition held annually at the University of Illinois.

Athletics

Hersey High School competes in the Mid-Suburban League East Division. JHHS is also a member of the Illinois High School Association, which governs most interscholastic athletic and competitive activities in Illinois. Teams from Hersey are stylized as the Huskies. Hersey also keeps records and trophies won by Arlington High School and Forest View High School.
The school sponsors interscholastic teams from both young men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and water polo. Young men may also compete in baseball, football, and wrestling, while young women may compete in badminton, bowling, cheerleading, dance, and softball. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school's athletic department also supervises athletes involved in the Special Olympics.
The following teams have won their respective IHSA sponsored state tournament or meet:
John Hersey High School also co-hosts the Illinois High School Association State Tennis Tournaments for boys and girls.

Notable alumni