West Aurora High School

West Aurora High School
Address
1201 W. New York Street Aurora , Illinois 60506 United States
Coordinates	41°45′54″N 88°20′44″W / 41.765°N 88.3456°W / 41.765; -88.3456
Information
School type	Public, high school
Motto	A Tradition of Excellence
Opened	1868; 156 years ago (1868)
School district	West Aurora Public School District 129
Superintendent	Jeff Craig
CEEB code	140185
Principal	Chuck Hiscock[1]
Teaching staff	219.40 (FTE) (2018–19)[2]
Grades	9–12[2]
Gender	Co-educational
Enrollment	3,682 (2018–19)[2]
Average class size	23.3
Student to teacher ratio	16.78 (2018–19)[2]
Campus	Suburban[2]
Colour(s)	Red   Blue
Fight song	Roll On, You Blackhawks
Athletics conference	Upstate Eight Conference
Mascot	Chief Blackhawk
Nickname	Blackhawks
Accreditation	AdvancED
Publication	Muses
Newspaper	Red and Blue
Yearbook	EOS
Website	Official website
[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

West Aurora High School, or WAHS, is a public four-year high school located in Aurora, Illinois. It is part of West Aurora Public School District 129. The school is also referred to as "West," and "West High,".

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 on Blackhawk Avenue (so named after the school's athletics mascot). This same building (demolished in February 2015) 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 to 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, with the major additions occurring 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.

Today West High is a diverse school, with several academic and athletic programs available.^[11]

In 2008, West Aurora had an average composite ACT score of 19.3, and graduated 79.1% of its senior class. West Aurora has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test, which with the ACT, are the assessment tools used in Illinois to fulfill the federal No Child Left Behind Act. All four of the student subgroups at West Aurora failed to meet minimum expectations in reading and math, as did the school as a whole.^[3]

Starting in 2019, West Aurora competes in the Upstate Eight Conference. West Aurora previously competed in the DuPage Valley Conference and the Southwest Prairie Conference^[12], which governs most interscholastic sports and competitive activities in the state of Illinois.

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.

The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for young men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and wrestling. Young men may compete in baseball, football, while young women may compete in badminton, bowling, cheerleading, softball, and flag football. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the Athletic Department also sponsors a poms team for young women.^[13]

The following teams have won their respective IHSA sponsored state tournament or meet:^[14]

• Basketball (boys): State Champions (1999–2000)
• Tennis (girls): State Champions (1996–97, 1997–98)
• Track & Field: State Champions (1905–06)

The rivalry between West and East Aurora High School is the second oldest in the state of Illinois.^[15]

The 1951 Girls' Golf season saw great controversy which nearly resulted in a cancellation of the season. The issue began when a member of the team refused to wear the required uniform, which consisted of a polo shirt with the West Aurora Blackhawks logo and a pleated, knee length skirt. The aforementioned team member arrived for the first tournament at the links wearing a pair of men's golf trousers, stating that if she had worn the required skirt, she would either have to sacrifice a full force swing or her modesty. Wanting to keep his player's femininity as well as their ability strike the ball 200 yards at the same time, the coach came up with the idea of dressing his girls in culottes. These split, pants-like skirts were designed to provide women more freedom to do activities such as gardening, cleaning, bike riding, etc. and still look like one is wearing a skirt.^[16][17]

The West Aurora band program is a member of district nine in the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA). 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.^[18] The band participated in festivities and performed at the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl.^[19]

• Official website
• Official Athletics web page