Lake Forest High School, or LFHS, is a public four-year high school located in Lake Forest, Illinois, a North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It serves the communities of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Knollwood, and smaller parts of Mettawa and North Chicago. It is fed by Lake Bluff Middle School, Lake Forest Country Day School, Saint Mary's, and Deer Path Middle School.

History

Originally built in 1935, the facilities have had substantial and continual renovation. Improvements within the last 20 years include outfitting all classrooms with a ceiling-mounted projector (2004), a $4 million renovation of its auditorium (2003), and the addition of a field house which also houses the school's climbing wall (1990s).

The grounds include a large front lawn (used for field hockey, lacrosse, and ultimate) and a full-sized track and football field with 2 sets of bleachers. Because the school is situated very close to residential areas, the City of Lake Forest does not permit the school's football team to use floodlights, effectively prohibiting night games; however, in 2006, the city did allow the school to rent lights for a one-time night game. A 2007 referendum relocated the school’s football facilities to the school’s west campus, where the use of floodlights is not prohibited. The referendum passed by an overwhelming 2/3 majority, and renovations are set to take place in two phases. The first phase, to be completed by the 2007/2008 school year includes the addition of a music wing, and renovation of the west campus including construction of a Varsity field. The second phase, to be completed by August 2008, will include academic renovations at the east campus with a brand new dining room and library, and construction of administrative offices at the west campus.

Academics

In 2005, Lake Forest had an average composite ACT score of 25.1, and graduated 99.8% of its senior class. It has been included in the "Top thousand" and "Most Successful" lists of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Parade magazine. The average class size is 19.3. Lake Forest has made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievements Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The staff consists of 149 teachers, of which 78% hold an advanced degree. The average tenure of faculty members at Lake Forest High School is 9.9 years. Members of the faculty have been instrumental in the development of Advanced Placement courses, serve on a number of state curriculum committees, and have authored both articles in professional journals and textbooks.

In the past graduating class, 86% have enrolled in 4-year colleges and 5% have enrolled in 2-year Colleges. 94% of students took more units of mathematics than LFHS's minimum of three, and 30% of students took at least four years of English. Along with the typical course offerings, Lake Forest High School also covers Advanced Placement classes in: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Programming, Computer Science, Economics, Environmental Science, French V, French VI, German IV, Latin IV, Latin V, Literary Analysis and Criticism, Modern European History, Music Theory, Psychology, Physics B, Physics C, Political Science, Spanish V, Statistics, Studio Art, United States History, and World History.

Activities

• Amplification
• Art/Photo Club
• Astronomy Club
• Aquarium Club
• Bike Path Club
• Chess Club
• Congressional Debate
• CROYA
• Cultures for Youth
• Debate
• Forensics Team
• Human Rights Club
• International Club
• Japanese Animation
• Jazz Band
• Junior State of America
• Math Team
• Men's Club
• National Forensic League

• Model United Nations
• National Honor Society
• Red Cross Club
• SADD
• Sailing Club
• Scholastic Bowl
• Science Olympiad
• Scout Buddies
• Senior Class
• Student to Student
• Student Council
• Tech Crew
• Theatre
• Trevors of LFHS Club
• Ultimate Frisbee (State Champions 2007)
• YAK
• Young Idea

Notable alumni

• Alan Benes, 1990, MLB pitcher
• Andrew Bird, 1991, musician
• Thierry J. Chaunu, 1974, president of Chopard USA Limited
• Dave Eggers, 1988, writer
• Charlie Finn, actor
• Rob Pelinka 1988, sports agent
• Phil Rosenthal, 1981, columnist: Chicago Tribune
• Vince Vaughn, 1988, actor
• Catherine Warren, 2002, Miss Illinois USA 2006
• Tim Weigel, 1963, Sportscaster
• Matt Grevers, 2003, 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist (100m back, 4x100m Free Relay)

Notable faculty

• Peter Ferry, author of the book Travel Writings

Media References

The 1980 film Ordinary People is set at Lake Forest High School, and parts of the film were shot at the school; however all swim team scenes were filmed at nearby Lake Forest College.

References

External links

• Official website