Thornwood High School

Thornwood High School
Address
17101 South Park Ave. South Holland , Illinois 60473 United States
Coordinates	41°35′00″N87°36′19″W / 41.58343°N 87.60539°W / 41.58343; -87.60539
Information
Type	Public
Established	1972
School district	Thornton Township High School District 205
Superintendent	Dr. Nathaniel Cunningham Jr.
Principal	Don C. Holmes
Assistant principal	Thomas Walsh
Staff	141.20 (on an FTE basis) [1]
Grades	9-12
Gender	Co-ed
Number of students	1,868 (2023-2024) [1]
Student to teacher ratio	13.23 [1]
Color(s)	Navy blue   Gold
Athletics conference	Southland Athletic Conference
Feeder schools	McKinley Junior High School Wolcott School Barack H. Obama Learning Academy Jesse White Learning Academy
Website	www.district205.net/thornwood

Thornwood High School is a public high school located in South Holland, Illinois, United States. It was built as part of Thornton Township High School District 205. It opened in 1971 to accommodate overcrowding at other District 205 schools, Thornridge High and Thornton Township High School.

Notable alumni

• Freddie Banks (class of 2006) – College football coach ^[2]
• Michael Blair (class of 1992) – retired NFL football Running Back; played on the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers ^{[3] [4]}
• Eddy Curry (class of 2001) – Former NBA Center; played for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, 2012 NBA Champion Miami Heat, and Dallas Mavericks ^{[5] [4]}
• T. C. Dantzler – Greco-Roman wrestler; two-time U.S. national champion, five-time U.S. world wrestling team member
• Matt Doherty – actor ^[4]
• Floyd Fields (class of 1987) – Former NFL football safety for the San Diego Chargers ^[6]
• Cliff Floyd (class of 1991) – MLB baseball left-fielder; won 1997 World Series championship with Florida Marlins ^[7]
• Michial Foy (class of 1980) – Former Olympic wrestler ^[4]
• Reggie Hamilton (class of 2007) – Undrafted professional basketball player ^[8]
• Justin Huisman (class of 1997) – Former MLB baseball pitcher; pitched for the Kansas City Royals ^{[9] [4]}
• Mark Konkol – Reporter for Chicago Sun-Times ; 2011 Pulitzer Prize recipient ^{[10] [4]}
• Neil Magny (class of 2006) – Professional MMA fighter competing in UFC ^{[11] [12]}
• David Moss (class of 2002) – Professional basketball player ^{[13] [14]}
• Mark Mulder – Former MLB baseball pitcher; pitched for the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals ^[15]
• Brittani Nichols (class of 2006) - Actress, producer, and writer ^[16]
• DJ Rashad (class of 1998) – DJ, pioneer of Chicago footwork ^[17]
• Bill Roe – Former NFL football Linebacker ^[4]
• Reggie Torian (class of 1993) – 1999 silver medalist in 110m hurdles at World Championships; NCAA indoor 60m hurdle record holder ^[4]
• Steve Trout (class of 1976) – Former MLB baseball pitcher; pitched for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, and Seattle Mariners ^[4]
• Michelle Venturella – 2000 United States Olympic softball gold medalist ^{[18] [4]}
• Jason Weaver – R&B singer and actor ^[19]
• Justin Williams (class of 2002) – Former NBA basketball Power forward-Center; currently plays in Italy ^[4]
• Bill Zehme ^[4] – Biographer (Frank Sinatra, Andy Kaufman, Jay Leno, Hugh Hefner); writer for Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Playboy.

References

1. 1 2 3 "Thornwood High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
2. "Norvell names Freddie Banks as Wolf Pack's cornerbacks coach". Nevada Athletics . January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
3. Baranek, Tony (September 15, 2016). "Baranek: Thornwood, NFL alum Michael Blair chasing Olympic bobsled dream". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016.
4. "Alumni / Most Notable Alumni". Thornwood High School. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014.
5. Eddy Curry
6. Hymon, Steve (January 12, 1991). "Ooutlook on life is Fields' Primary Strength". Chicago Tribune.
7. Castle, George (September 20, 2013). "Floyd was good talker as player, so now he gets paid for that skill" (PDF). Chicago Baseball Museum.
8. "Reggie Hamilton - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles". ESPN.com. Thornwood High School
9. "Thornwood gains striking victory against T.F. South". Chicago Tribune. May 16, 1997. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021.
10. Ariva, Phil (April 24, 2011), "Trivia Time", Chicago Sun-Times, p. 59, Which former Thornwood High School baseball player is most accomplished in his chosen profession? Answer ... Mark Konkol (the Sun-Times reporter who last week won a Pulitzer Prize ...)
11. https://www.facebook.com/neil.magny/about ^{[ user-generated source ]}
12. Brad Popkin (July 28, 2015). "Interview: UFC 190's Neil Magny wants to reach Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey superstar status". mmamania.com.
13. Moss to Indiana State. highschoolelite.com. Retrieved February 9, 2010. Archived May 16, 2003.
14. "David Moss, Basketball Player Profile, News, Stats". Eurobasket LLC.
15. CBS (February 11, 2015). "Former MLB Pitcher Mark Mulder Accuses JRW Of Cheating For Years". CBS Chicago.
16. "Yale". Yale. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
17. Brown, Harley (April 28, 2014). "DJ Rashad Dead at 34 (Update)". Billboard.
18. Adam L. Jahns. Thornwood Thunderbirds. Chicago Sun-Times . May 15, 2008. Retrieved on May 23, 2008.
19. Weaver, Jason [@itsjasonweaver] (April 24, 2014). "My high school! THORNWOOD aka "The Wood" aka "Gladiator School"" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links

• Official site