Waubonsie Valley High School, or WVHS, is a public four-year high school at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Eola Road in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Other high schools in Indian Prairie School District 204 are Neuqua Valley High School, Metea Valley High School, and Indian Plains Alternative High School.
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History
Indian Prairie Community Unit School District #204 (a unit district K-12) was formed in the fall of 1972. In December 1972 a referendum was passed to build and equip a high school at a projected cost of $8.2 million. A separate issue also passed to add a swimming pool. Construction on Waubonsie Valley High School began in the spring of 1973. Tom Gibbs was hired as the first Principal. Since his tenure, Gary Elmen, Marilyn Weaver, Jim Schmid, Kristine Marchiando, and Jason Stipp have served as Principal.
In September 1975, Waubonsie Valley opened its doors for its first school year. 293 Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors attended the new high school. In addition, 7th and 8th graders were housed in the building (using the name Granger Junior High) until Hill Junior High (now Hill Middle School) opened in the Fall of 1981. Construction delays prevented students from using the gym until May 1976 and the pool until October 1976.
The school was designed as an open campus, with very few walls to separate classes. This quickly gave way to temporary room dividers and eventually, more permanent walls. Major construction projects over the years added three classroom wings, a field house and an auditorium, leaving just a few clues as to the original design of the building. The school was considered futuristic with a swimming pool, greenhouse, and planetarium.
During the summer of 2006, the school was renovated and various improvements were made. The atrium received a "face lift" in the form of a new style around the pillars and floor tile. In the hallways, the school was repainted with different shades of green and a wooden oak trim. The school also repaved the 12 tennis courts and rebuilt the rubber track. This renovation cost approximately $7.5 million.
The campus consisted of two buildings: a "Gold Campus" building (currently Gregory Fischer Middle School) for Freshman (Grade 9). It has been converted from Francis Granger Middle School in 1993 to Waubonsie's Gold Campus in 2003 to Gregory Fischer Middle School since 2009. A "Green Campus" building (the original WVHS main building) was for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors (Grades 10-12), but now houses all four grades. During the 2000s, the Indian Prairie School District converted middle schools for both Waubonsie Valley and its sister school, Neuqua Valley High School into "Gold Campus buildings", due to high enrollment numbers and classroom overcrowding. However, Waubonsie's "Gold Campus" returned to being a middle school after the opening of Metea Valley High School in 2009. As of 2012, there were 3,689 students enrolled at Waubonsie.
Waubonsie Valley's inaugural principal was Tom Gibbs who worked from 1974-1987.
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Academics
Waubonsie Valley has provided exemplary academic performance since its opening. Currently it is one of the few Illinois schools to be given a ranking of 9/10 by GreatSchools. In addition, in 2009, Waubonsie Valley was included in Newsweek magazine's 1,500 Top U.S. High Schools in the Nation. Newsweek's list is a national ranking based on a formula that divides the number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests taken by students into the number of graduating seniors from approximately 27,000 of the nation's public high schools. According to Newsweek, this measurement places Waubonsie Valley in the top 6 percent of schools in the country. This is the third year in a row for Waubonsie Valley. It is rated as the top ranked high school in Aurora, IL. In 2012, Waubonsie Valley had an average composite ACT score of 23.2, and graduated 98.9% of its senior class.
Students at Waubonsie Valley have the opportunity to participate in the High School Human Genome Project. Waubonsie Valley is currently the only school in the state of Illinois contributing to this historic project.
The average class size is 22.9. It has 1,886 teachers with an average teaching experience of 12.4 years.
Athletics
Waubonie Valley's athletic teams compete in the DuPage Valley Conference. Waubonsie Valley's mascot is the Warrior.
In the spring of 2007, the Girls Soccer team took home the Illinois State Championship. They were ranked #1 in the country. The Girls Soccer team took home the championship trophy again in 2008 and 2010. Also, the Boys Rugby team won the 2009 Tier II Illinois State Championship and the 2014 Tier I Illinois State Championship which they finished ranked #19 in the country. In 2009, the Girls Golf Team won the Illinois State Championship. In 2011 the Boys Lacrosse team won the Illinois State Lacrosse B Championship. Hockey, a club sport at Waubonsie, also celebrated its first state championship in 2014 and then again in 2016. Combined with Matea Valley, Oswego East, and Oswego the team also won the ISHSL West Cup and finished 1st in the west division.
Also at WVHS, Special Olympics is another highly valued and appreciated athletic program. It allows students with special needs to participate in sports such as basketball, swimming, track & field, as well as bowling. Special Olympics is an important aspect of the athletics department.
Waubonsie Valley has won numerous other State Championships. The entire list can be found here.
Music Program
The Waubonsie Valley music program has received a Grammy Award six times in total. WVHS was named a Grammy Association's Signature School in 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2011 through the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 2007 and 2011, WVHS was one of two schools in the nation to receive the honor of the Grammy Association's Signature GOLD School.
The choir program offers seven choirs and several extracurricular ensembles, including three show choirs. The top level mixed show choir was ranked 1st for 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015 by the National Show Choir Ranking System.
Notable alumni
- Derek Ahonen (1999)- Playwright, Director, and founder of the Amoralists Theatre Company in New York City.
- Michael Bowden, 2005-Current, professional baseball player, Boston Red Sox, now with the Chicago Cubs.
- Fabien Bownes was an NFL wide receiver and kickoff returner for the Chicago Bears (1995, 1997-1998) and Seattle Seahawks (1999-2001).
- Parvesh Cheena (1997) - actor known for role as Gupta in the NBC series, Outsourced. He has also appeared in the TV shows ER, Sons of Tucson, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, along with many more. He was also in the two movies in the Barbershop series.
- Andrew Marin, (1999) - Author
- Chris Schuler, 2009-Current, professional soccer player, Real Salt Lake
- Peter Tiberio, USA Eagles rugby player
- Morolake Akinosun, Gold medal winner of the women's 4 × 100 metres relay in the 2016 Rio Olympics
Notable staff
- Dan Schatzeder (physical education teacher) was a Major League Baseball pitcher (1977--91). He was a member of the 1987 World Series Champion Minnesota Twins.
- Angelo DiBernardo (Spanish teacher) is a retired soccer player who played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. He also represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics. DiBernardo played alongside soccer legend Pelé during his time at New York Cosmos.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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