William Howard Taft High School (Chicago)
Taft High School is a public four-year high school located in the Norwood Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Taft serves communities on the far northwest side, specifically Norwood Park, Edison Park, Jefferson Park, Forest Glen and O'Hare. Taft is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. The school is perhaps most famous as the high school attended by Jim Jacobs, the writer of Grease. Jacobs used Taft as an inspiration in writing the musical. Taft's NJROTC unit has won a Distinguished Unit award every year since 2001.[2] Since 2014, Taft High School has been considered a "wall-to-wall" IB school as part of the International Baccalaureate foundation. Taft High School has offered the International Baccalaureate program since 2001.[3]
| Taft High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
6530 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue , 60631 United States | |
| Coordinates | 41.9844°N 87.79192°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public Secondary |
| Motto | "Teaching Academics For Tomorrow." |
| Opened | 1939 |
| School district | Chicago Public Schools |
| Principal | Mark Grishaber |
| Grades | 7–12 |
| Gender | Coed |
| Enrollment | 3,908 (2020-2021) |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Color(s) | Blue & silver |
| Song | Fly Like an Eagle |
| Athletics conference | Chicago Public League |
| Mascot | Eagles |
| Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools |
| Yearbook | Aerie[1] |
| Website | tafthighschool |
Athletics
Taft competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The boys baseball team were Public League champions in 1968, CPS quarter-finalists in 1985, and regional champions in 2009. The girls volleyball team were Public League champions in the 1979–80 season.[4]
In 2018, the boys varsity football team brought home its first Chicago Public League championship since 1972 with a 29–13 win over Eric Solorio Academy High School.
The wrestling team won four consecutive Chicago Public League Championships. (2018,2019,2020,2021)
Notable alumni
- Donna Mills, class of 1958, is an actress whose best known role was as Abby on the television series Knots Landing.
- Howard Moore is the former basketball head coach for the University of Illinois at Chicago (2010–15).
- Jack Suwinski is an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates MLB team.
- Jerry Krause is the former general manager of the Chicago Bulls (1985–2003) whose teams won six NBA championships.
- Jim Grabowski is a former NFL running back. He was selected in the first round of the 1966 American Football League Draft by the Miami Dolphins and the first round of the 1966 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He played in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II.
- Jim Jacobs is the co-writer of the musical Grease, parts of which were based on his high school experiences at Taft.
- Joseph A. Tunzi is a Chicago-based author, publisher, and producer.
- Ken Henry, U.S. Olympic gold medalist in speed skating, 1952 Oslo. At the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, Henry was chosen to light the final torch at the opening ceremony.
- Lynn Morley Martin is a former congresswoman who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor (1991–93).
- Robert Hanssen is a former FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.[5]
- Terry Kath was a guitarist and co-founder of the band Chicago.
References
- 1967 Taft High School Yearbook- Chicago, Illinois
- Taft NJROTC
- "IB Diploma Programme". www.tafths.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
- IHSA Chicago (Taft)
- Havill, Adrian (2001). The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. xix. ISBN 0-312-98629-7.
Robert Philip Hanssen, a senior at Chicago's William Howard Taft High School in 1962, also saw the first James Bond movie that year.
