Lockport Township High School


Lockport Township High School is a public high school in Lockport, Illinois, United States.

Campuses

Lockport Township High School is split into two different campuses, Central & East.

Central campus

Central campus is on 1222 S Jefferson St, Lockport, IL. It was built back in 1909 and has had many renovations, including the addition of an indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, auditorium, and classrooms. This building is commonly known as the "Freshman Center", as first year students attend this campus.

East campus

East campus is located on 1333 E 7th St, Lockport, IL, not far from Central. East campus opened in 1964 and today serves the sophomores, juniors, and seniors. In 1998, it got a 307,000 foot renovation with an indoor swimming pool with 600 seats, 800 seat auditorium,18 science labs, a fine arts facility, and 79 new classrooms.

Communities

In addition to the city of Lockport and Lockport Township, Lockport Township High School also serves the communities of Homer Glen, most of Crest Hill, a section of unincorporated Orland Park and Homer Township. More than 3,800 students are enrolled in grades 9 through 12.

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.
In 1896 a new school opened, also built of local dolomitic limestone and on the same site. 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. In 1910, Lockport High School opened and was accredited by the North Central Association. Major addition were made to the school s in 1930 and 1953. 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, and 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 and 1,000 students at Central Campus. The project was finished in the fall of 1997. 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.
By 2009, district officials have been grappling with an influx of 1,200 students in 10 years, since 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. 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 scaled back its proposals. 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. Mobile classrooms were installed in the northeast area of East Campus in 2007 to help reduce overcrowding.

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.

Notable alumni