Wendell Phillips Academy High School | |
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Address | |
244 East Pershing Road , 60653 United States | |
Coordinates | 41°49′28″N87°37′11″W / 41.82444°N 87.61972°W [1] |
Information | |
School type | |
Motto | "The Premiere South Side School of Choice." |
Opened | September 4, 1904 |
School district | Chicago Public Schools |
CEEB code | 141375 [2] |
NCES School ID | 170993001061 [3] |
Principal | Rashad J. Talley |
Grades | 9–12 |
Gender | Coed |
Enrollment | 401 (2023–2024) [4] |
Area | Urban |
Color(s) | Blue White |
Athletics conference | Chicago Public League |
Team name | Wildcats |
Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools |
Yearbook | Phillipsite |
Website | phillipshs |
Wendell Phillips Academy High School is a public 4-year high school located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in September 1904, Phillips is part of the Chicago Public Schools district and is managed by the Academy for Urban School Leadership. Phillips is named for the American abolitionist Wendell Phillips. [5] Phillips is known as the first predominantly African-American high school in the City of Chicago. Phillips' building was designated a Chicago Landmark on May 7, 2003. [6]
The high school traces its history to 1875, when South Division High School was opened as the south side's first public high school. Phillips was established by Chicago Board of Education in 1900 to replace South Division, (which was located near 26th street and Wabash Avenue, about two miles from Phillips location) after community members petitioned for a new school due to the location being deemed "altogether unfit" and the need to provide a more modern building for the south side community. By 1903, the school was nearly complete and was scheduled to open in September of that year. Due to labor issues between August and December 1903, the last construction on the school was halted. [7] Construction resumed in January 1904 and was completed by May 1904. Constructed in the Classical Revival style, Phillips was designed by architect William B. Mundie. [8] Phillips opened for the 1904–1905 school year on September 4, 1904. The school was named for Wendell Phillips (1811–1884), the staunch abolitionist and advocate for Native Americans. He was one of the leading members of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
When its new Phillips campus opened in 1904, the school was still predominantly attended by the wealthy children of Chicago's south side mansions, but this soon changed. Changing demographics resulted from the Great Migration, by which millions of African Americans left the rural South for northern and midwestern industrial cities, including Chicago. By 1907, 90 black students had enrolled at Phillips. [9] Early yearbooks portray a racial mix in the student body, but by 1920 the school had become Chicago's first predominantly African American high school. [10] In 1924, the Chicago Board of Education created a junior high school within Phillips, serving seventh and eighth grades. By 1928, Phillips student population exceeded the capacity of the school building in which the district instituted the use of portable classrooms and the implementation of two half-day shifts.
In 1929, the Board of Education voted to build a new school in the Bronzeville neighborhood, naming it The New Wendell Phillips High School at 49th and Wabash Avenue due to overcrowding at Phillips. Economic conditions during the Great Depression slowed the work on the building; it was finally completed on February 4, 1935. Shortly before the completion of the new building, Phillips "mysteriously" caught fire on January 28, 1935, making it necessary for the students to move to the new school in February 1935. The new school was then named Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School, after Chicago's first permanent non-native settler in April 1936. During the initial move to the new school, the board decided to only house sophomore, juniors and seniors in the new building due to limited space. The freshmen classes remained at the undamaged section of Phillips. A new wing was later built on the Phillips site in late–1936, serving as an elementary school after junior high schools in Chicago were discontinued in 1933. [11]
The new wing included a new assembly hall, gymnasium, swimming pool, lunchroom, and chorus and band rooms. In November 1937, several classrooms in the new wing of the school caught fire before its initial completion, repairs were later made. During the 1940s, Phillips offered courses for adults which became known as Evening School. Phillips experienced overcrowding in the elementary wing of the school which led to a 20-classroom extension being built in 1944. By the early 1960s, Phillips students attended classes in three shifts due to overcrowding; estimated 2,200 students enrolled by 1964.[ citation needed ] The alumni association and principal Ernestine D. Curry established the Wendell Phillips High School Hall of Fame in 1979. [12]
Below is a list of individuals that have served as principal of Wendell Phillips Academy High School since the opening of the school in 1904.
Phillips was used as the setting and shooting location for the movie Save the Last Dance, released in 2001. [13]
During the late 1920s, members of the school's winning basketball team were drafted by Abe Saperstein, a Chicago Park District employee, [14] to form the nucleus of a group that later became the Harlem Globetrotters. [8] [10] They were initially called "The Savoy Big Five," taking their new name from Bronzeville's Savoy Ballroom. [15] Those players included Tommy Brookings, Hillery Brown, George Easter, William "Razor" Frazier, Roosevelt Hudson, Inman "Big Jack" Jackson, Lester Johnson, Byron "Fat" Long, William "Kid" Oliver, Al "Runt" Pullins, Randolph Ramsey, Ted Strong and Walter "Toots" Wright. [16] [17]
Phillips is a High School Transformation and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) school and offers Advanced Placement (AP) courses as well as honors courses as part of its academic curriculum. It provides a positive learning environment through an academic curriculum promoting literacy and inquiry-based learning. AP courses are offered in U.S. history, Biology, and English. Honors courses are offered in 15 subjects. Education To Careers (ETC) programs are offered in fashion design, graphic communications, and drafting. Phillips also features a Junior Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (JAFROTC) program [18] and a health clinic to serve the needs of its students. [19] Enrollment is open to students living in its attendance area; if space is available, students outside the area may apply.
In addition to its longstanding sports program, Phillips offers students the opportunity to participate in Student Council, Air Force (AFJROTC), a school Newspaper Club, the Book Club, the Culture Club, a Music Production Project, an Entrepreneurial Project, Junior Achievement, yearbook, and a debate Team.
Phillips community and university partners include the University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, Ada S. McKinley Educational Talent Search, City Year Chicago, Dawson Skills Center, Carnegie Learning, Field Museum, Kaplan, Center for New Horizons, and Project Strive. [19] In 2010, Phillips became a turnaround school in an effort to lower the school's one–year dropout rate of 66.8 percent. [20] The school received the Spotlight on Technology award from the Chicago Public Schools leadership technology summit in 2013. [21] The school's attendance boundary includes areas of the South Side, Chinatown, and portions of the Chicago Loop. [22]
Phillips competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The schools sports teams are nicknamed Wildcats. Phillips athletic teams have had a history of success. The boys' basketball team won the state Class AA title in 1974–75 and city of Chicago champions in 1976. The boys' track and field team placed first in 1901–02, 1905–06, 1942–43, 1949–50, 1950–51 and 1961–62. [23]
The girls' basketball team were regional champions in 2012–13. The 2014–15 Wildcats football team was the IHSA class 4A runner–up, making them the second CPS program and the first in 32 years to play in an IHSA football championship game. In the 2015–16 season, Phillips returned to the 4A finals and defeated Belleville Althoff 51–7 to become the first Chicago public league team to win a state championship in football, and for the second time in three years, they became the state champions again in 2017 in the 5A division, defeating Dunlap 33–7.
Indianola is a city in and the county seat of Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census.
Phillips Academy is a co-educational university-preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year. The school is in Andover, Massachusetts, United States, 25 miles north of Boston. Phillips Academy has 1,149 students, and is highly selective, accepting 9% for the 2022–2023 school year. It is part of the Eight Schools Association and the Ten Schools Admissions Organization.
Walter Henri Dyett was an American violinist and music educator in the Chicago Public Schools system. He served as music director and assistant music director at Chicago's predominantly African-American high schools; Wendell Phillips High School and DuSable High School. Dyett served as musical director at DuSable High School from its opening in 1935 until 1962. He trained many students who became professional musicians.
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Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton was an American professional basketball and baseball player. He is best known as one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School is a public high school in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Chicago Public Schools and named after Chicago's first permanent non-native settler, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable. Constructed between 1931 and 1934, DuSable opened in 1935.
Kenwood Academy is a comprehensive public 4–year high school and magnet middle school located in the Hyde Park–Kenwood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Operated by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) district, Kenwood opened in temporary quarters in 1966 and in its permanent building in 1969. Kenwood limits acceptance of high school students to those living in Hyde Park: from Lake Michigan to Cottage Grove Avenue east to west, and 47th to the Midway Plaisance north to south. Kenwood was recognized as a School of Distinction for its academic achievement and a Model School by the International Center for Leadership in Education in 2004. In addition to being a local high school, Kenwood has a magnet program that accepts students entering into 7th grade who pass a rigorous admissions test. The magnet program accepts students citywide using a random lottery with a standing of 6 or higher in both reading and math.
William Watson was one of the first African-American basketball players to lead an integrated team to a championship. In 1924 Watson's Lane Tech High School met Wendell Phillips High School to dispute the championship of the Chicago Public High School League. Watson's quintet won 18-4, and he was hailed by the black Chicago Defender newspaper as a hero, despite the newspaper's preference for the all-black Wendell Phillips club.
Argo Community High School is a public four-year high school located in Summit, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The district draws students from the communities of Summit, Bedford Park, Bridgeview, Justice, Willow Springs, and a portion of Hickory Hills. The school was named for the area surrounding the large corn processing plant located near the school, which manufactured Argo corn starch and is currently owned by Ingredion. In 2014 and 2016, Argo was awarded a bronze medal by U.S. News & World Report for outstanding academic performance, the only school in the South Suburban Conference to receive such recognition.
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Some of Ammons' stylistic versatility can undoubtedly be traced to his Chicago home ... He also learned from the renowned "Captain" Walter Dyett, the musical director of Chicago's DuSable High School. Dyett was instrumental in launching the careers of many other DuSable alumni, including the legendary crooner and pianist Nat "King" Cole and fellow saxophonist Johnny Griffin.
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