Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire, Illinois)


Adlai E. Stevenson High School, commonly called Stevenson High School, is a four-year public high school located in Lincolnshire, Illinois, United States.

History

Adlai E. Stevenson High School, opened in September 1965. Prior to the opening of Stevenson, the students in the Stevenson area attended Ela-Vernon High School in Lake Zurich. Stevenson was planned to be a second school for the growing district, but the western side of the district decided to build their own district. This left Stevenson with an unfinished building, no board or administration and no faculty. When Stevenson opened to 467 students and 31 teachers in 1965, the building was not carpeted, the library was empty, most classrooms were without desks and athletic fields were non-existent, as most of the school furniture had been shipped to Prairie View, Texas instead of Prairie View, Illinois.
In the 2005-06 school year, Stevenson had its highest enrollment of 4,573 students. Between the 2005-06 and 2014-15 school years, each school year saw progressively declining enrollment in the student body. In the 2014-15 school year, Stevenson had its first enrollment increase since the peak in the 2005-06 school year. Stevenson's enrollment was 4,337 for the 2018-19 school year, and enrollment is expected to surpass 4500 by 2020.
Stevenson has grown since its opening to become one of the largest high schools in the area. The school has undergone various additions over the years, the first being in 1970 where the school gym, auto shop, and pool were renovated. To accommodate the increasing student population, another round of remodeling occurred in the mid 1990s. After the addition of the three level east building in 1995, the physical size of SHS increased to more than six times its original size of 113,420 square feet. The new east building included 69 new classrooms, a new Performing Arts Center, the Patriot Aquatic Center, Field House, and the Technology Center, among other projects as well. Also built was a new indoor walkway between the original west building and the new east building.
In 2004, the main entrance to the school was completely rebuilt and transformed into another commons area now known as "The Point." Other renovations that year included more fine arts areas around the band, choir, and orchestra rooms in the west building as well. Around 2008, many of the athletic fields were expanded and the football field got new turf. In that same year, the original auditorium was renovated as well.
In 2011, the school library and student resource center in the old/west building were renovated for the first time in Stevenson's history. The project was finished in 2015, when the removal of the two lecture halls were completed to make way for the Quiet Learning Center. In addition to the new ILC/QLC, the photography studio was also renovated in the summer of 2013.
In 2019, the school added an extension to the east building, including 22 new classrooms, conference rooms, a green roof and flower garden, multiple living walls and solar panels, with the intent of making the new addition a net-zero building.
In 2020, Stevenson began planning for an additional expansion, with new athletic courts, an artificial turf playing field, a larger running track, an area for exercise equipment, and other features to be built in the enlarged field house.

Demographics

White: 63.4%, Asian: 24.7%, Hispanic: 7.6%, Black: 1.5%, Two or More Races: 2.6%, American Indian: 0.2%

Communities served

The school serves students in the area's District 125 coming from Lincolnshire, Long Grove, Prairie View, portions of Buffalo Grove, Mundelein, Kildeer, Hawthorn Woods and smaller portions of Vernon Hills, Lake Zurich, Riverwoods, Bannockburn, Deerfield and Mettawa.

Feeder schools

Public schools

Controversies and incidents

Newspaper censorship

In November 2009, a dispute erupted between school officials and the student newspaper, The Statesman, regarding censorship of stories. The administration stopped publication of the November 20 issue, objecting to stories regarding drugs, teen pregnancy and shoplifting. When students wanted to leave the front page blank in protest of the censorship, the officials instead required the students to produce other stories approved by the administration. The Stevenson public information officer released a statement November 20 stating the administration did not think anonymous sources discussing alleged illegal activity was fit for print.
The Chicago Tribune, in a November 26 editorial, said the school was wrong to force students to produce administration-approved stories. "This isn't editing, it's censorship," wrote columnist Zak Stombor. The Society of Professional Journalists' Freedom of Information chairman called the censorship "immoral, un-American, irresponsible and not fit for education."
Following the censorship fiasco, 11 of 14 Statesman staffers — and all the paper's top editors — resigned from their positions at the start of the spring 2010 semester.

Confiscation of student cellphones

In February 2012, school administration initiated an investigation into drug sales at the school, during which the cellphones of students suspected of drug sales were confiscated, and the text messages stored on the phones were read. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois described the incident as a "fishing expedition", while school officials stated they were "perfectly within our rights". In one instance a student was suspended five days and barred from participating in extracurricular activities because he refused to provide the password to his cellphone. The probe resulted in two arrests on misdemeanor drug charges.

Athletics

The Stevenson Patriots compete in the North Suburban Conference.
Stevenson High School is a member of the IHSA, the athletic teams are stylized as the Patriots. Many of its teams are top-ranked nationally and has a history of producing collegiate and professional athletes.
The following teams have won their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament or meets:

Awards and recognition

Stevenson High School is one of the only high schools in the country to receive the United States Department of Education's "Excellence in Education" Blue Ribbon Award five times. In addition, Stevenson has been named one of America's top high schools by both U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek magazines, and has been named a National School of Distinction in Arts Education by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Stevenson was ranked as one of the best public high schools in America in 2017. In addition, Niche gave Stevenson A+ ratings in the following areas in 2016: academics, teachers, educational outcomes, health and safety, resources and facilities, sports and fitness, co-curricular activities, food service, and administration and policies.
Several national publications have regularly included Stevenson in their lists of America's best public high schools. Stevenson was the top-ranked open-enrollment public high school in Illinois in 2015 and 2014 in U.S. News and World Report, and was the top-ranked open-enrollment school in Illinois in the Washington Post’s rankings in 2014, 2013 and 2012.
Stevenson was ranked among the best in the nation's best STEM programs by U.S. News and World Report.
For the class of 2016, 99.9% attended college. In 2015-2016, 360 students were named Illinois State Scholars. In addition, there were 32 National Merit Semi-Finalists in the Class of 2016 and 38 Commended students.

Notable alumni