Carl Schurz High School is a public 4–year high school located in the Irving Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The school is named after German–American Carl Schurz, a statesman, soldier, and advocate of democracy in Germany. The school building, which represents a combination of the Chicago and Prairie schools of architecture, was designed in 1910 by Dwight H. Perkins and designated a Chicago Landmark on December 7, 1979. It is considered one of "150 great places in Illinois" by the American Institute of Architects. The AIA has described the school as Perkins's masterpiece, "an important example of early-twentieth century architecture, utilizing elements of both the Chicago and Prairie schools."
The land upon which the current school is built was purchased in 1908, and is about two blocks south of an older building which was also Carl Schurz High School (located at 2338 N. 41st Court). The final site was approved in October 1908, with an estimated US$500,000 construction cost. Shortly after the school's opening, Carl Schurz's son donated a picture of his father and copies of his father's two published works to the school. The school was formally dedicated on the evening of 18 November 1910, with a presentation of a bust of the school's namesake. Able to accommodate 1,400 students, the building included an assembly hall, gymnasium, foundry, forgeroom, a physiographical lab, and lunch room.
Schurz competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA); the organization that governs most athletic and competitive activities in the state. Teams are stylized as the Bulldogs. The following teams finished in the top four of their IHSA sponsored state championship tournament:
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