Highland Park High School (HPHS) is a public four-year high school located in Highland Park, Illinois, a North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois. It is part of Township High School District 113. From 1900 to 1904, the school was known as Deerfield High School. The high school served both Deerfield (renamed Moraine in 1998) and Shields townships from 1904 until 1936 and was Deerfield-Shields High School. The building of Lake Forest High School in 1936 provided a school to serve Shields Township students. This led to the return of the name Highland Park High School. A new, separate Deerfield High School opened 20 years later to serve the growing population.

History

For a period of approximately fourteen years following Highland Park High School's establishment in 1886, classes were held in the rooms over the Brand Brothers paint shop in downtown Highland Park. It has occupied the present site on Vine Avenue since 1900. Over the course of time, however, several additions have been constructed. In 2000, HPHS and its sister school, Deerfield High School underwent a two-year, $75 million renovation and expansion project. HPHS received several new additions and renovations with renovated and added. The additions and renovations were designed by Legat Architects and executed by VACALA Construction, Inc.

Academics

In 2025, Highland Park had an average composite ACT score of 27.1 and graduated 95.1% of its senior class.

Highland Park High School has non native-English speaking students and a student population of 61.2% white, 29.8% Hispanic, 4.7% Two or More Races, 2.2% Asian, 1.7% Black, 0.3% American Indian/Alaska Native, & 0.2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Student life

Athletics

thumb|150 px|School Sports logo

Highland Park competes in the Central Suburban League and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) which governs most of the sports and competitive activities in the state. Its mascot is the Giants.

The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for young men and women in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, wrestling, and water polo. Young men may also compete in baseball, golf, football, and Scholastic wrestling. Women may compete in softball and field hockey. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors teams for men and women in lacrosse in addition to an ice hockey team for men. Highland Park also sponsors a joint fencing team with Deerfield High School for men and women.

The following teams have won their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament:

  • Cross country (Boys): State Champions (1961–62)
  • Golf (Boys): State Champions (1939–40, 1947–48, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1958–59)
  • Tennis (Boys): State Champions (1972–73)

Activities

Highland Park offers 64 clubs, activities, and intramurals for students. Among these activities are chapters or affiliates of several nationally notable organizations: Amnesty International, Congressional Debate, DECA, FIRST Tech Challenge, Key Club, and Model UN.

The following competitive teams have won their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament:

  • Wind Symphony: Gold Medal Young Prague International Music Festival (2012)

Philanthropy

Since 1994, students at HPHS annually mobilize to support a charity during February. This month-long event is known as "Charity Drive" and is orchestrated by the Charity Drive Committee, one of the subdivisions of the school-wide political Student Senate. Students choose the charity in a school vote. The school regularly raises six-figure amounts and is courted by charities.

  • William Goldman (class of 1948) was an Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Butch Cassidy and All the President's Men), and author of The Princess Bride.
  • John M. Grunsfeld is an astronaut at NASA.
  • David R. Palmer (class of 1959) is a science fiction author.
  • Francis G. Pease was an astronomer.
  • Mike Resnick (class of 1959) is a science fiction author.
  • Brian Ross (class of 1966) is a broadcast journalist.
  • Suzanne Rand Eckmann (class of 1967) was the co-star of the two person comedy team of Monteith and Rand. They appeared on Broadway in 1979.
  • Brett Gelman (class of 1995) is an actor and comedian.
  • Susan Hahn (class of 1959), poet, playwright, and novelist.
  • Eric Orner is a cartoonist and author of the graphic novel Smahtguy: The Life and Times of Barney Frank
  • Peter Orner (class of 1986) is an author and essayist.
  • Jeff Perry (class of 1973) is an actor who co–founded the Steppenwolf Theater.

Business

  • Edward Lowenstein (1913-1970) Greensboro, North Carolina Architect and Civil Rights proponent.
  • Sam Zell

Sports

  • Josh Bartelstein CEO of the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, and Footprint Center
  • Jason Brown (class of 2013) is a US Olympic figure skater and 2015 national champion.
  • Tony Cogan was a Major League Baseball pitcher.
  • Tunch Ilkin was a sports broadcaster and a former NFL Pro Football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers

Military

  • Follett Bradley (class of 1906) was a Major General
  • David Berry Knapp (class of 1967), follower of Rajneesh and mayor of Rajneeshpuram
  • Anthony Saliba (class of 1973), businessman, entrepreneur, and board of trustees member, The Heritage Foundation
  • Paul Soglin (class of 1962) was the 51st, 54th, and 57th mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
  • Jill Stein (class of 1968), an American physician, activist, and politician affiliated with the Green Party of the United States

Staff

  • Paul Adams briefly taught at HPHS after leaving the military, before transferring to Deerfield High School in 1966 and becoming that school's head football coach.
  • Jerry Wainwright was the school's head boys basketball coach (1978—83). He was later men's head coach at DePaul University.

References

  • Official website