Established 1924 Dean Paul Dyer Grades 9 - 12 | Superintendent Michael Roberts Principal Marsha Potthoff | |
School district McHenry High School District 156 | ||
McHenry West High School is a high school in McHenry, Illinois. The school's current capacity is 1597 students and as of the 2009-2010 school year, 1597 students were enrolled. Its principal is Marsha Pothoff. The school colors are orange and black, and the mascot is Leonidas the Warrior. McHenry West High School is in District 156 along with East Campus, and both high schools facilitate seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman.
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History
The first official high school in McHenry, now known as East Campus, was established in 1924. In 1947, it was expanded for the first time to accommodate the growing student body. 10 years later, there would be another addition to the school. Five years later, two more proposals were presented to add more to the existing high school to facilitate the growth but were denied. Only eight years after denied until it was represented and passed 5 months later but at a cost of only $3.1 million. The new school had the ability to hold he last addition to East, a proposal to build and equip an entirely new high school at a cost of $3.2 million was proposed. It too was 1,000 students. Construction was completed and the first class, which consisted of just under 300 students, was the class of 1969. The new high school, or West Campus, was to consist of the Seniors and Juniors while the old high school, East, would house the Freshman and Sophomore students. West was able to handle the number of students for almost 3 decades but in the mid-1990s ran short of room and added the first set of mobiles. In the late 1990s, student population growth would again become a problem prompting the addition of the second set of mobiles. Later in 2000, the number of students had risen higher and forced the school to expand. Construction began in 2000 and was finished in 2003 with the additions of the new gym, cafeteria, and staircases.