Batavia High School, or BHS, is a public four-year high school located in

Batavia, Illinois Batavia () is a city mainly in Kane County and partly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in the Chicago metropolitan area, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...

. It was created by the merger of West Batavia High School and East Batavia High School (and their separate school districts) in 1911 and is part of Batavia Unified School District 101; the East Batavia and West Batavia athletic programs merged in 1909. Since 2009, the school has added a new "D Wing" of classrooms, "E Wing" of music rooms, a fieldhouse, new athletic facilities, and an auditorium ("F Wing"), which was completed in 2011.

Academics

Batavia High School has an average class size of 25 and a graduation rate of 94%. 16

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

(AP) courses are offered at BHS. In 2022, BHS graduated 538 students. 61% of these graduates enrolled in a four-year college, 14% enrolled in a two-year college, 1% went directly to employment, 1% went into the military, and 25% had plans elsewhere. 80% of the class of 2022 had post-secondary experiences while still in high school through BHS, including AP and dual-credit classes, courses through Fox Valley Career Center, and a

Waubonsee Community College Waubonsee Community College is a public community college with three campuses in Illinois: Sugar Grove, Aurora, and Plano. Founded in 1966, Waubonsee Community College serves twelve public school districts in Aurora, Batavia, Big Rock, Brist ...

manufacturing program.

Athletics

Batavia was a founding member of the

Western Sun Conference The Western Sun Conference (WSC) was an organization of eight high schools in northern Illinois, representing eight communities in that part of the state. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference be ...

(WSC), but joined the

Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference (''UEC'', ''U8C'', or ''Upstate 8'') is an organization of ten high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School A ...

the following dissolution of the WSC in June 2010. In 2018–19, Batavia left the Upstate Eight to join the DuKane Conference. BHS is a full member of the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...

. The school's mascot is a

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Geneva High School, which is located in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, a town directly to the north of Batavia. From 1913 through 2014, the Geneva Vikings and the Batavia Bulldogs have faced off on the football field 97 times. The current record is 51–41–5, favoring Geneva. The Batavia–Geneva game is among the twenty-oldest football rivalries in the state of Illinois. Basketball: Batavia is known for its boys' basketball tradition for over a century and is known for its exciting atmosphere including the Batavia Pep Band, Cheerleaders, and the Dance Team; its first team dates to 1905–06. Batavia finished 4th in 1921 and won its only state championship in 1912. Former Bulldogs hoopsters include Ken Anderson,

Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per ...

, Dean Anderson, and the late TNT sideline announcer,

Craig Sager Craig Graham Sager (June 29, 1951 – December 15, 2016) was an American sports reporter who covered an array of sports for CNN and its sister stations TBS and TNT, from 1981 until the year he died. Sager worked as a sideline reporter pacing ...

. Soccer: Batavia competes in IHSA competition in both boys and girls soccer. Batavia soccer alumni include 1989 Collegiate Champion Mike Fisher. Football: The 2011 season, the Bulldogs went 9–0 (first in school history). In 2006, the Batavia Varsity Football Team played in the Class 6A State Championship game at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

' Memorial Stadium against Normal Community High School. They took second place. In 2013, the Bulldogs headed back to the Class 6A State Championship game, emerging victorious with a 34–14 victory over Richards High School of Oak Lawn. In 2017, the Bulldogs advanced to the Class 7A State Championship game in

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

Huskie Stadium Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium is a college football stadium in the central United States, located on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Opened in 1965, it is the home field of the NIU Huskies of the Mid-America ...

, where they beat Lake Zurich High School 20–14 in overtime to capture their second state title. In 2022, the Bulldogs headed back to the Class 7A State Championship game in Memorial Stadium (Champaign) where they took second place after a 44-20 lost to Mt. Carmel High School. Marching Band: In 2009, The Marching Bulldogs began competing in various competitions around the state. In 2011, the Marching Bulldogs received new uniforms, switching from their traditional white pants and red jacket to an all black uniform featuring a single red "B". 2014 was a big jump for the band with the show "Into the Woods" featuring music from the planets symphony. 2015 was the band's most successful year with their show "Square the Circle" with music by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. They placed in every competition including 3rd in class at the ISU competition and 7th overall in preliminaries, and won multiple awards for best color guard, visuals, and percussion. In 2016 the band tried a harder show with "the Anatomy of Sound" with music from the movies Matrix and Man of Steel. Competitive Cheer Team: The Batavia Cheer Team has competed in ICCA and IHSA competitions since their inception in the early 2000s. Most notably qualifying for the 2012 State Championship in Bloomington, Il. The team has fluctuated between the Large All Girl and Coed divisions. Dance Team: Over the years the Batavia Dance Team has been very successful in the TDI, IHSA, and UDA competitions. In 2013, both the JV and Varsity teams competed in the TDI Grand Championship competition. Varsity placed 1st in Pom, 2nd in lyrical and 3rd in the hip-hop category. JV placed first in both the Pom and Jazz categories and were the overall grand championship for all JV teams. In 2015 the team competed in the UDA national championship in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

. During the 2016 season, the teams qualified for the IHSA state competition and place 12th in the 2A category.

Notable events

Bomb plot

On November 26, 2019, a BHS student was arrested and charged with 14 crimes, including attempted first-degree murder and terrorism, for allegedly plotting to bomb the school. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

was tipped off on the case by a science supplies store on "suspicious purchases." With local authorities, they conducted a search of the student's home and discovered numerous chemicals, compounds, and laboratory equipment to make bombs. In his notebook, he allegedly planned a "Dies irae," latin for "Day of Wrath," at BHS in which he would "detonate bombs in the high school’s restrooms, throw molotov cocktails and a hand grenade down hallways and die in a suicide," according to prosecutors. The student was later diagnosed with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

. An FBI social media check on him found "suspicious accounts that were suspected to be related to

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

." The student's case was transferred to adult court and he was detained for months before pleading guilty. As part of the plea deal, he avoided potentially decades in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

but agreed to serve four years of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

and mental health treatment in a residency program.

Music

There are approximately 500 students in the school involved in music, with 13 curricular ensembles and 8 extracurricular ensembles. This includes four concert bands, four concert orchestras, and five choral ensembles. Extracurricular groups include the two

show choir A show choir (originally known as a "swing choir") is a musical ensemble that combines choral singing with choreographed dance, often with an overarching theme. It is most relevant in the Midwestern United States and was popularized by the America ...

groups Swingsingers (Coed) and Legacy (female only), the

A cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group Chromatics, a marching band, Troubadours, Madrigals, two

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

ensembles, Chamber Orchestra,

Pep band A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchin ...

, and more. Each spring, the school puts on a musical with a full pit orchestra. Some include 2011's "

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

", 2012's "

9 to 5 Working(laboring) time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countries regula ...

", 2017's "

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

", and most recently "

The SpongeBob Musical ''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical'' (originally titled ''The SpongeBob Musical'', later retitled as such for the national tour) is a stage musical, co-conceived and directed by Tina Landau with songs by various artists and a book by K ...

" in 2022. Each year distinguished students of the music department participate in the

Illinois Music Educators Association The Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) is the Illinois state-level affiliate of National Association for Music Education. It formed in 1941 out of the previous Illinois School Music Association. ILMEA offers support to Illinois music ed ...

district IX and state honor music groups. In 2017 the highest level band, Wind Symphony, was accepted to perform at the

Superstate concert band festival and also at the 2018 Illinois Music Education Conference (IMEC). As of 2022 the band has performed at the Superstate festival every year since, excluding 2020 due to its cancellation because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

; they have also been invited to perform at IMEC again in January 2023. Batavia High School was recognized as a Grammy Signature School Semifinalist in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

School layout

The school is divided into six wings, labeled A through F.
A Wing: Contains mostly specialty classrooms, such as culinary arts, video production, and graphics arts classrooms; location of the gym and cafeteria.
B Wing: Contains the library and administration offices.
C Wing: Located on the east end of the building; covers two floors; contains most core classrooms, such as social studies, math, and world language classrooms, with some science and english classrooms.
D Wing: Located on the north end of the building; covers two floors; and contains science, english, and art classrooms.
E Wing: Located on the northwest part of the building; contains the chorus, orchestra, and band rooms, music offices, music storage rooms, and music practice rooms.
F Wing: Located on the west end of the building, contains the Batavia Fine Arts Centre, field house, and gym storage rooms.

Notable alumni

* Ken Anderson (born 1949)

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and 1981 NFL Most Valuable Player. * William B. Downs (1899-1966), orthodontist who created first Cephalometric Analysis in the field of Orthodontics. *

(born 1948), professional basketball player, playing in the ABA (1970–76) and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(1976–85). He was elected to the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

in 1993. *

John Mauer John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(1901-1978), college basketball head coach for

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. *

(1951-2016), sportscaster for TNT and TBS; born in Batavia and attended BHS."Untypical Teens,"
''Ames Daily Tribune,'' June 14, 1966, pg. 4.

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Public high schools in Illinois Buildings and structures in Batavia, Illinois Schools in Kane County, Illinois Educational institutions established in 1911 1911 establishments in Illinois