West Aurora High School - Aurora, Illinois/IL

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West Aurora High School

1201 W New York St, Aurora, IL, 60506-3697 -

tel: (630)301-5018
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Definition of Terms

West Aurora High School

School Level

High school

Grades Offered

Grades 9 - 12

County

Kane County, IL

Students & Faculty

Total Students

3292 students

% Male / % Female

52% / 48%

Total Classroom Teachers

181 teachers

Students by Grade

Grade 9 - 1114 students

Grade 10 - 813 students

Grade 11 - 712 students

Grade 12 - 653 students

This School

( IL ) School Average

Teacher : Student Ratio

1:18

1:17

Students by Ethnicity

This School

( IL ) School Average

% American Indian	n/a	n/a
% Asian	2%	3%
% Hispanic	33%	16%
% Black	19%	21%
% White	46%	56%

Additional Student Information

This School

( IL ) School Average

% Eligible for Free Lunch

19%

39%

% Eligible for Reduced Lunch

% Migrant Students Enrolled

n/a

n/a

( IL ) Statewide Testing Performance

School Statewide Performance

View Education Department Test Scores

School District Name

Aurora West Unit 129 School District

This School's Agency

( IL ) District Average

Number of Schools Managed	18	3
Number of Students Managed	13,936 students	907 students
District Total Revenue	$108,252,000	$8,184,000
District Expenditure	$131,804,000	$8,197,000
District Revenue / Student	$7,768	$7,864
District Expenditure / Student	$9,458	$9,159
District Graduation Rates	75%	70%

West Aurora High School, or WAHS, is a public four-year high school located in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of West Aurora Public School District 129. The school is also referred to as "West Side High School," "West High School," "West High," and "Aurora West".
History: High school classes were first offered in 1867 at Stone School (now defunct). The first graduating class of five students had their commencement in 1870.
From 1905 until the 1950s the high school was located in a building (still standing) on Blackhawk Avenue (so named after the school's athletics mascot). This same building was Benjamin Franklin Junior High School until the 1970s, when it was sold to Aurora Christian School, which used it as their school building until 2004. The current WAHS structure was built in the early 1950s, and was dedicated in 1953 as "West Side Senior High." From 1978-1981 the building was briefly known as the "West Aurora South Campus," when two buildings existed on Aurora's west side to house the high school population. The building formerly known as the "West Aurora North Campus" now houses the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. The present building has had multiple additions and renovations.
The major additions occurred over four phases. The first added classrooms to an existing two-story classroom wing in the early 1960s. The largest addition, to the north and east sides of the building, added the auditorium, classroom space and other amenities in 1966-1967. This addition was responsible for the creation of the building's first two courtyard spaces. The 1997-1998 addition was constructed as a two-story wing on the south end of the building, giving it a new facade, and closing a portion of New York Street. This addition included a new library, a technology center, a new cafeteria, and additional classroom space. The most recent addition was completed in time for the 2004-2005 academic year. This included a new fieldhouse, a new single-story classroom wing on the northwest corner of the building, and a new choral rehearsal space.
The school's fight song, "Roll On, You Blackhawks," dates from the 1940s, and was written by Sten Halfvarson. A plaque commemorating the composition of the song hangs in a hallway just south of the auditorium, where the opening bars of the song have also been placed into the floor tile.
Academics: In 2005, West Aurora had an average composite ACT score of 19.8, and graduated 83.7% of its senior class. The average class size is 21.0. West Aurora has not made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievements Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Athletics: West Aurora competes in the DuPage Valley Conference and Illinois High School Association. Prior to 1997, it competed in the Upstate Eight Conference. Officially, Chief Blackhawk serves as the mascot for the school. The red and blue logo of the chief is painted on the back of the school's football stadium, as of 2006, replacing the school's WA logo. Use of the "Chief" character has been controversial, as it has been for other area schools (e.g. Waubonsie Valley High School, Naperville Central High School) that use or have used a mascot derived from Native Americans. For a time, the school strictly used the WA symbol, which appears in place of the logo of Chief Blackhawk on all official DuPage Valley Conference logos. The school also invented new characters named "WA Man" and "WA Woman" as mascots, but has recently reinstated the Chief as official mascot. Teams continued to compete as "Blackhawks" during this time.
The 2006 football game with rival East Aurora High School was the 114th played between the two schools, and was won 33-0. The rivalry between these two public high schools is the oldest in the state of Illinois. With the 2005 win in that year's "East-West Game", West Aurora became the third high school in Illinois with a varsity football team to achieve 500 or more wins.
Fall Athletic Season teams: Boys Cross Country, Boys Football, Boys Golf, Boys Soccer, Girls Cross Country, Girls Golf, Girls Swimming and Diving, Girls Tennis, Girls Volleyball.
Winter Athletic Season teams: Boys Basketball, Boys Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Girls Basketball, Girls Bowling.
Spring Athletic Season teams: Boys Baseball, Boys Tennis, Boys Track & Field, Boys Volleyball, Girls Badminton, Girls Softball, Girls Track & Field, Girls Soccer.
Multiple Seasons: Cheerleading, Poms (also known as the Dance Team).
Activities: The West Aurora band program is a respected member of district nine in the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA). The Wind Symphony and Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Stephen Orland and Melody Baliki (respectively), are known throughout the Chicagoland area as accomplished musical ensembles. However, with Melody Baliki's resignation at the end of the 2005-2006 school year (to become the Director of Education for the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic), the Jazz Ensemble will be directed by both Stephen Orland and Patty Sampson. The Jazz Ensemble performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival on 1 September 2006, becoming only the second high school group ever invited to perform at the Festival. Stephen Orland is the president of the IMEA's ninth district, as of 2005. The current West Aurora High School band directors are Stephen Orland, Patty Sampson, and John Sierakowski.
The school's "Madrigal Singers," an a capella choir under the direction of Meg Papadolias, are also well-respected locally, and have made a few recordings. Choral music and keyboarding classes are taught by Mrs. Papadolias and Jon McLear.
The school's drama troupe is an official member of the International Thespian Society. Its charter lists it as troupe #2013, which has been incorporated into the official name since becoming a member. The "Theatre Troupe 2013" had already established a high local profile and following, particularly with the production of annual musicals such as Carousel and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the late 1990s, and Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, and Cats from 2004-2006. The school was only the second high school in Illinois to stage Beauty and the Beast and the third to stage Cats. Some productions have been restaged in the same summer at the Paramount Arts Center in downtown Aurora. Drama at WAHS is led by Donna Letzter and Ken Ruffalo.
Other activities include the school's "Step Team" dance ensemble, and many clubs, including:
African American Heritage Club, Anime Club, Chess Club, French Club, Games Club, Multi-cultural Club, Science Fiction and Fantasy Club, Spanish Club, Student Council.
Notable alumni: John Drury, 1945, local news anchor (WGN, WLS).
Tom Skilling, 1970, Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV meteorologist.
Jeffrey Skilling, 1971, Convicted Enron ex-CEO.
Rich Becker, 1990, Former Major League Baseball Player 1994-2001.
Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
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About This Zip Code (60506)

School Zip (60506)

(IL) State Average

Population (Approximate)

51,184 people

12,207,380 people

% (age 25+) w/College Degree

32%

24%

Population Average Age

32 years old

34.7 years old

Average Household size

2.8 persons

2.6 persons

Median Household Income

$50,743

$46,560

Avg. # of Rooms in Household

5.7 rooms

5.4 rooms

Median Age of Housing Structure

43 years old

49 years old

View current housing listings in this area

Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (60506)

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% Owning / % Renting

69% / 31%

63% / 37%

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Nearby Schools:


1. Il Mathematics & Science Academy - 634 students - view location
2. East High School - 2717 students - view location
3. Waubonsie Valley High School - 3489 students - view location
4. Batavia Senior High School - 1857 students - view location
5. Oswego High School - 1864 students - view location
View all schools in: Aurora Town, Kane County, Zip 60506

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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

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