Mt. Vernon Township High School (Illinois)

Mt. Vernon Township High School is a public high school located in Mount Vernon, Illinois, United States. It serves grades 9-12 and is maintained and operated by the Mt. Vernon Township High School District No. 201 of Jefferson County, Illinois. Mt. Vernon Township High School occupies 32 acres (13 ha) and has eleven buildings and associated sports fields. The school has an enrollment of approximately 1,325 students. The school is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the State of Illinois.[1]

History

Mt. Vernon Township High School opened at its present location, in the current B Building, in 1905. The school was the successor to the Mt. Vernon City High School, which had been in operation since 1884. At its opening the new school had an enrollment of ninety girls and seventy boys, with a faculty of six. Unlike the city's public grade schools, which were segregated until the mid-1950s, the school was integrated from the beginning. At the end of that first year, the class of 1906 had thirteen graduates.

As the school's enrollment grew, Buildings A, D, and E buildings were built in the 1930s under the New Deal's Works Progress Administration. Building F with vocational and music facilities was added in the 1950s; Building G in 1964; and Building H for career and technical training in 1978.

Mt. Vernon Community College

In 1955, the voters of the district approved establishing a junior college to accompany the high school. Mt. Vernon Community College operated on the high school campus and several adjacent buildings until its expansion as Rend Lake College (a part of the Illinois Community College System) and its 1970 relocation to its present main campus in Ina, Illinois.[2]

New campus

Construction began in August of 2014 for an entirely new and modern 82 acres (33 ha) campus located at Wells Bypass and Ambassador Road on the southwest edge of Mt. Vernon. The new campus is scheduled to open in the fall of 2016.[3][4]

Activities

The school sponsors a wide variety of clubs, organizations, and activities for its students.

School clubs & organizations include:
  • Hi-Tri
  • HOSA-Future Health Professionals
  • Math team
  • PBIS

Sports teams competing in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) include:

  • Baseball (boys)
  • Basketball (boys & girls)
  • Bowling (boys & girls)
  • Competitive Cheerleading (girls)
  • Cross Country (boys & girls)
  • Football (boys)
  • Golf (boys & girls)
  • Soccer (boys & girls)
  • Softball (girls)
  • Swimming (boys & girls)
  • Tennis (boys & girls)
  • Track & field (boys & girls)
  • Volleyball (girls)
  • Wrestling (boys)

The boys basketball team won four IHSA single-division state championships in 1920, 1949–50, and 1954 and has been to the Sweet Sixteen 17 times .

Other activities competing in the IHSA include:

The music program won ten IHSA Class AA Sweepstakes Championships in 1973-75, 1979–81, and 1984–87 and has been runner-up six times.

Distinguished alumni

Mt. Vernon Township High School's many distinguished graduates include:[5]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.mvths.org/
  2. ↑ http://www.rlc.edu/about-rlc/rlc-history
  3. ↑ Centralia Morning Sentinel
  4. ↑ http://www.mvths.org/pages/IntheNews/20142015/20150301_Progress2015_RegisterNews.pdf
  5. ↑ http://www.mvths.org/pages/History/distinguishedalumni_listing.pdf

External links

Coordinates: 38°18′56″N 88°53′57″W / 38.315505°N 88.899087°W / 38.315505; -88.899087

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