Schools of Mount Prospect

School District: 26

Grade levels: 5-8

Built: 1965

Is it still standing? Yes

Is it still a school? Yes

History

River Trails Middle School was named through a “Name the School” contest, which was won by 6th grader Lane Johnson. He wrote: “Many schools are named for people, but after a time their greatness may fade or even be forgotten, but a school with a name taken from nature…will never fade or be forgotten for nature is everlasting.” The school was built towards the end of the baby boom, although it has since felt the fluctuations in populations. During the baby boom, many schools were built to house the rapidly growing population, but as the population aged in the 1970s and ‘80s, many of these schools were demolished or consolidated. For example, in 1981 the Feehanville School was closed and the 5th and 6th grade students were transferred to River Trails, along with the bell from Feehanville’s cupola, which is now displayed in front of River Trails. With rising student populations in the 1990s school districts have found themselves short of space and missing the schools that were closed. Additions have been put onto the River Trails School in 1968, 1971, and 1991. However, these additions were not enough to hold the increasing population of students. In the late 1990s the school was forced to buy trailers to use as classrooms, as the population of the school had surpassed the space.

School District: 214

Grade levels: 9-12

Built: 1956-57

Is it still standing? Yes

Is it still a school? Yes

History

Around the turn of the century there was a discussion about the need for a high school in the northwest suburban area. There was a lot of opposition to the founding of a new school, at least in part because much of the community was still agricultural and very conservative and they did not want the government to spend money on education. At the same time, there was also a national discussion about voting rights. Women still did not have the right to vote. Some states, mostly on the east coast, had passed laws either giving women complete or partial voting rights starting in the 1800s. Illinois gave women the right to vote for school board members in 1891 but did not grant them the right to vote for the U.S. President and local offices or referendums until 1913. Even then, women were not allowed to vote for state representatives, congressmen, or the governor and because of this, women had to use separate ballots and separate voting booths. Finally in 1920 the 19th amendment was passed and women were given full voting rights nationally. This all relates to the history of Prospect High because it was in 1914 that an election was held to found a high school district for Wheeling, Elk Grove, and Palatine Townships and because of the change in the Illinois state law in 1913, this was the first election women were allowed to vote in. Because of the women’s vote, the referendum passed. Had only the men’s votes been counted, the referendum would have failed. The conservative people who had opposed the founding of a high school contested the legality of this vote until it was finally upheld in the Illinois Supreme Court in 1922. The School District built Arlington High School on Euclid road, which served the entire region for years.

In early 1950, with an increasing population, a referendum was held to build a second high school in the area. This was again opposed by many of the conservative community members and the referendum failed the first two years it was proposed. By 1956 students were forced to attend Arlington High in shifts and the community finally supported the referendum, although, by then the land prices and constructions cost had risen so quickly that the project cost far more than it would have two years earlier. Construction began immediately and the school open in 1957. The first year the school only served freshmen and they added a new grade level every following year for three years. The school has gone on to have a long legacy, far outlasting Arlington High. The sports teams and bands have won statewide and national acclaim.

Grade levels: K-12

Built: First building 1882

Second building 1899

Is it still standing? Yes

If not, when was it demolished? First building burned in 1899 and was rebuilt

Is it still a school? Yes

History

Maryville is one of the oldest and most famous schools in the northwest suburbs. In 1880 Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan came to Chicago and was confronted with young boys who were living on the streets and were forced to steel to stay alive. He turned to wealthy church members and was able to raise funds to purchase land for the founding of a institution to help aid these children. In 1882 Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan purchased the 440 acre River Bend Knott Farm with the plan to transform it into a training school for boys. He hoped to be able to teach the young boys both academic programs and the skills that they would need to be “productive citizens of the world.” It was originally called Saint Mary’s Training School for Boys and started with four Christian Brothers, one of which was Bernard Fackeldey AKA Brother Teliow, who became the first supervisor of the school. The first class was approximately 30 young boys from Chicago. By 1883 the school housed over 120 students. The early founders believed in being open to boys from all races, religions and backgrounds, so they admitted 51 young Native American boys from the Sioux and Chippewa tribes. However, these students had been relocated by the federal government from reservations in the Southwest and were not prepared for the harsh winters. Five of these students died in the first year and the others were returned to their home reservations.

In 1887 the school purchased the neighboring Parmalee Farm, adding 400 acres to the schools holdings. By the early 1890s the school had grown to over 325 students, most of whom were Cook County wards. In 1899 a fire consumed most of the school, however the Catholic Churches in the area rallied together and raised enough money to rebuild the facility and enlarge it to house up to 1600 students. In 1902 Archbishop Feehan died and was replaced by James E. Quigley. One of the most important things that Quigley did was to make the school co-educational. In 1906 Quigley replaced the Christian Brothers with the Sisters of Mercy in preparation and in 1911 the school became co-ed. The student population reached its highest levels in the 1930s, when many families were not able to support their children. In 1950 the school held a contest to rename the institution. The name that was chosen was “Maryville, City of Youth.” In the 1960s and 1970s, the enrolment shrank as many social workers began to favor foster homes over institutional housing. The school was shaken at the end of 2002 with the suicide of a resident student. This brought on a critical review of the institution, which showed some serious issues, and major changes to the administration and operations of the school were undertaken.

 

School District: 57

Grade levels: K-8

Built: First building 1956

Second building 1995

Is it still standing? First no, second yes

If not, when was it demolished? First building demolished in 1993 to make way for second

Is it still a school? Yes

History

The first Lions Park School was built in 1956 at the height of Mount Prospect’s explosive post war expansion. The population grew from around 4,000 to around 19,000 between 1950 and 1960, and most of these new residents were young families. This created a massive imbalance in the number of students and the school facilities. New schools were built at a dizzying rate, although this happened with some serious resistance, as the older established community watch their town be radically changed. One major issue that came about because of this massive development in such a short time was that all the children grew up at about the same time. With shifting demographic trends, many of the schools built in Mount Prospect in the 1950s were closed and demolished. Lions Park was one of the schools that survived the 1970s and 1980s, but as the demographic trends started to shift again with rising enrolments in the 1990s, many schools in Mount Prospect were found to be inadequate. Beginning in 1993, School District 57 began attempting to pass a referendum to build new facilities. After the referendum failed twice, it finally passed by a thin margin on the third attempt. Ironically, the people voting against the referendum were the same people who had moved to the community in the 1950s, insisted on the construction of many new schools, and faced opposition from the residents who had lived here longer. With the passage of the referendum, School District 57 had $13.5 million to modernize their facilities. The original Lions Park and Fairview Schools were raised, as the environmental issues in the buildings made it impossible to renovate and expand them. New Lions Park and Fairview Schools were built on top of the locations of the original schools and the new Lions Park School was opened in 1995.

In 1998 Lions Park School hosted a visit from then first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and then senator Mosely Braun. The 5th graders at Lions Park School also participated in a 24 hour space shuttle simulation with students of Fairview school in 2001.

School District: 26

Grade levels: K-8

Built: First building 1882

Second building 1924

Is it still standing? No

If not, when was it demolished? First building demolished some time after 1924, the second building was demolished in 1984

History

The history of the Feehanville School goes back to 1882 when Archbishop Patrick Feehan purchased the River Bend Knott Farm with the intention of establishing a training school to house the children displaced or made orphans by the Great Chicago Fire. He soon opened Saint Mary’s Training School, which was later renamed Maryville Academy. As a part of this development a small one-room schoolhouse was built for the local farm children. This stood on River Road, in what is today part of the Cook County Forest Preserve. In 1895 the River Trails School District 26 was founded to operate the school. One teacher taught 5 to 10 students in all the grades. The responsibility for providing room and board for this schoolteacher fell on the neighboring farmers, generally the Runge family and the Piepenbrink family. When the forest preserve took over the land, the school was moved to 1400 Kensington Road. The original one-room schoolhouse was replaced in 1924 by a brick, two-room school. The original building was sold to a neighboring farmer. Although it is not clear when it was eventually demolished, one story is that it was moved and used it as a hen house. The two room building continued to be used until 1982, when the school was closed due to changing demographics. Today all that is left of the Feehanville School is the school bell which was rededicated in 1995 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the River Trails School District.

 

School District: 57

Grade levels: K-8

Built: 1956

Is it still standing? No

If not, when was it demolished? 1994

History:

The Busse School was a definite product of the Baby Boom in Mount Prospect; it stood at the intersection of Owen and Henry Streets and was built in 1956. With the heights of the boom came the depths of the bust and with shifting demographic trends, School District 57 faced declining enrollment through the 1970s which forced them to close many schools. By 1982, the school district was forced to close the Busse School, although there was a large public outcry. For many the closing of Busse School was seen as the end of an era of neighborhood schools. When the building came down, a number of alumni of the school commented on it being last school in the community where the parents could see the school from their front porch and the children could go home for lunch in nice weather. In 1987 School District 57 sold the building to the Mount Prospect Park District, who rented the building out to a number of different organizations and then in 1994 demolished it to construct Busse Park.