School type Public Secondary Status Open Principal Kathryn Anderson Phone +1 224-632-3000 Number of students 1,754 | Opened 1959 Superintendent Dr. Christopher Dignam Staff 287 Average ACT scores 27.1 | |
Address 1959 Waukegan Rd, Deerfield, IL 60015, USA District Township High School District 113 Similar Highland Park High School, Adlai E Stevenson High Sch, Glenbrook North High School, Highland Park School Di, Lake Forest High School Profiles | ||
Deerfield High School, or DHS, is a public four-year high school in Deerfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is part of Township High School District 113, which also includes Highland Park High School.
Contents
History and campus
The original building was constructed during the mid-1950s in response to the post-war nuclear threat. Construction was completed in 1959 and its first class graduated in 1963. As of 1999, DHS included 327,000 square feet (30,400 m2) of space.
In 2000, DHS and its sister school, Highland Park High School, underwent a two-year, $75 million renovation and expansion project. DHS received new science and arts wings for a total of 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) added and 61,600 square feet (5,720 m2) renovated. The additions and renovations were designed by Legat Architects and executed by VACALA Construction, Inc.
Beginning in 2004, the school ceased comparing the academic achievements of students, nor does it distribute students' class rank to colleges. The elimination of class rank aimed at creating a less stressful competitive academic environment. The school also spends the most in the state of Illinois on each student over the course of a year. The current amount is over $22,000 for each student, each year. This was one of the reasons that Deerfield was ranked second in the top ten towns in which to raise a family in 2007.
The DHS Auditorium is a proscenium style theater that seats 914 persons and is used for assemblies and productions of dance, musical theater, and concerts by soloists and large ensembles. The Auditorium's stage house measures 3,200 square feet (300 m2) with a proscenium that is 35 feet (11 m) wide, 18 feet (5.5 m) high and a stage that is 30 feet (9.1 m) deep to the cyclorama. The lighting grid is 30 feet (9.1 m) high. The Studio Theatre is located immediately adjacent to the Auditorium and is used as a backstage area during Auditorium productions. The orchestra pit is located at house level and can contain up to thirty musicians. The stage house has a 7-line, manual, single purchase counterweight fly system, with 500-pound capacity per line-set. In addition, the Auditorium houses a walk-draw white cyclorama, movable tormentors, four travelers, dead-hung teasers and a walk draw black scrim.
The DHS Studio Theater is a 3,000-square-foot (300 m2) reconfigurable black box theater. Its various seating configurations can accommodate up to 200 persons in thrust, proscenium, stadium, or arena arrangements. The lighting pipe grid is eighteen feet above the stage floor. The Studio Theatre has a reconfigurable walk-draw curtain system with a dedicated inventory of black stage draperies and a sky blue cyclorama. During Studio Theater productions the Auditorium stage is used as backstage.
Academics
In 2012, Deerfield had an average composite ACT score of 27.1, and graduated 97.2% of its senior class. It was also ranked as the top high school in Lake County, IL. Deerfield has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, which with the ACT comprises the assessment tools used in Illinois to fulfill the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Deerfield High School was in the top 500 public U.S. high schools in 2006 and in the top 1000 in 2007.
Awards
In its over fifty years of existence, Deerfield High School has won many awards.
In 2009, the high school was named a National Blue Ribbon School. This prestigious award is awarded by the United States Department of Education to high performing, and improving schools.
Athletics
The Deerfield Warriors compete in the Central Suburban League, and counts its in-district sister school Highland Park High School as a longtime rival. The school's teams compete in state championship series tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).
The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for men and women in basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and water polo. Men may also compete in baseball, football, and wrestling. Women may compete in badminton and softball.
The 1977 Deerfield boys cross country team is regarded by at least one publication as one of the single greatest prep cross country teams of all-time. Recognized by Marc Bloom's Harrier Report and the National High School Archives (xcnation.com).
While no longer sponsored by the IHSA, the school still has a women's field hockey team. While never sponsored by the IHSA, the school sponsors lacrosse for men and women. Deerfield also sponsors a joint fencing team with Highland Park High School for men and women.
A co-ed ice hockey team also competes against teams from surrounding schools, however it is not sponsored by the school or the IHSA. The team is supported entirely by private donations and players must purchase their own jerseys and equipment. In the 2007-2008 season, the Warriors defeated New Trier High School to win the State title in the White Division by a score of 3-1.
The school has won the following IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments or meets
Individually, Deerfield High School Students have won several state championships.
The football stadium is named for former coach Paul Adams, who coached the football team from 1966 to 1992, an era which included four appearances, with one win in the state championship game.
In addition to the team's success, tennis player Mike Morrison was the second of two players in Illinois men's high school history to win four state singles titles (1984–1987). The only other player to accomplish this was Marty Riessen.
The school also sponsors cheerleading, fencing, pom-pons, and a dance team at the club level.
Media and other student activities
The school newspaper is Deerprints; it won a Pacemaker award, given by the National Scholastic Press Association. Also, the school has a television station called WDHS that comes out with bi-weekly, and sometimes weekly 12-minute news shows during the homeroom period.
The Congressional Debate team (Student Congress) won the Illinois Congressional Debate Association (ICDA) state championship in 2003.
The Scholastic Bowl team qualified for the Class AA IHSA State Championship in 2004 and 2005 by winning its regional and sectional tournaments. The team also advanced to sectionals by winning regionals in 2006 and 2010.
Theater
Deerfield won the IHSA championship in Drama in 1970–71.