Calumet High School–Perspectives is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

four-year

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

located in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the south side of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States. Opening as Calumet Township High School in 1889, it became a

Chicago Public School Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

in 1900 and closed in 2006. The Calumet school building is now used by two charter schools operated by the Chicago Public Schools system.

History

The school opened as Calumet Township High School in 1889. It operated at first in a former elementary school on the city's east side, but the

Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education (school board) for the Chicago Public Schools. The board traces its origins to the Board of School Inspectors, created in 1837. The board is currently appointed solely by the mayor ...

eventually decided that a new building needed to be built to house the school. The new school building, at 81st street and May Avenue, was constructed during January 1925 and completed in 1926. It opened for students for the 1926–27 school year. The school closed after the 2005–2006 academic year due to poor performance and low enrollment. As a part of the Chicago Public Schools

Renaissance 2010 Renaissance 2010 was a program of the Chicago Public Schools school district of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Pushed by for-profit education companies, Renaissance 2010 initiative was announced in June 2004 by the Chicago Public Schools and ...

program, the Calumet High School building now is home to two charter schools: Calumet – Perspectives Leadership Academy, which is located on the third floor, and Calumet – Perspectives High School of Technology, which is located on the second floor.

Other Information

The school was used as the filming location of the 1999 drama film Light It Up. Before its 2006 closure, the school was named Calumet Career Prep Academy.

Athletics

Calumet competes in the

Chicago Public League The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Admini ...

(CPL) and is a 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 ...

(IHSA). The school sport teams are nicknamed The Warriors (formerly Indians). The boys' basketball team were regional champions in 2012–13.

Notable alumni (1889 - 2006)

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

(attended), – Grammy Award-winning R&B singer. * James Young (Class of 1968), – Musician, guitarist and songwriter for the rock band

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

. *

Kirby Puckett Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career as a center fielder for the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995). Puckett is the Twins' all- ...

(Class of 1978), – Baseball player, Major League Baseball Hall-of-Fame outfielder. * Monique D. Davis (Class of 1955), – Politician, Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives. *

Marsha Warfield Marsha Francine Warfield (born March 5, 1954) is an American actress and comedian. She grew up on Chicago's South Side, graduating from Calumet High School. She is best known for her 1986–92 role of Roz Russell on the Top 10 rated NBC sitcom ...

(Class of 1971), – actress, comedian, talk show host (''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portray ...

'', ''

The Marsha Warfield Show ''The Marsha Warfield Show'' is an American daytime talk show that aired for ten months on NBC from 1990 to 1991. Comedian and actress Marsha Warfield served as host. Overview Each show featured several guests who, on the surface, did not seem t ...

''). *

Jamie Foster Brown Jamie Foster Brown (ca. June 26, 1946) is the former owner and publisher of ''Sister 2 Sister'' magazine, which ran from 1988 to 2014. ''Newsweek'' called it the "African-American version of ''People'' magazine." As an entertainment journalist, Bro ...

(Class of 1964), – magazine publisher. * Stella Foster (Class of 1963), – Journalist, columnist for ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

''. *

Georgie Anne Geyer Georgie Anne Geyer (April 2, 1935 – May 15, 2019) was an American journalist who covered the world as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Daily News and then became a syndicated columnist for the Universal Press Syndicate. Her columns focus ...

(Class of 1952), – renowned newspaper journalist and columnist. *

Tony Hinkle Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle (December 19, 1899 – September 22, 1992) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletic administrator. He attended the University of Chicago, where he won varsity letters in three spo ...

(Class of 1917), – basketball coach,

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

. *

Tommy Sands Thomas Adrian Sands (born August 27, 1937) is an American pop music singer and actor. Working in show business as a child, Sands became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on ''Kraft Television Theater'' in January 19 ...

(attended), – actor and teen idol hitmaker, notably with "

Teen-Age Crush "Teen-Age Crush" is a song written by Audrey Allison and Joe Allison and performed by Tommy Sands (American singer), Tommy Sands. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, U.S. pop chart and #10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, U.S. R&B chart in 1957. ...

" in 1957. *

Earl Eby Earl William Eby (November 18, 1894 – December 14, 1970) was an American sprinter who won a silver medal in the 800 m at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Earlier at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games he won the 400 m event and placed second in the 800 m to ...

(attended), – Athlete, participated in the 1920 Olympic Games, taking second for the USA in the 800 meters, and finishing fourth as a part of the 1600 relay. *

Merrell Jackson Merrell Jackson (April 26, 1952 – February 23, 1991) was an actor who played one of the apostles in the film ''Godspell'' (1973). He sang "All Good Gifts". Life Jackson graduated from Chicago's Calumet High School in 1971, where he was a sol ...

, (Class of 1971) – actor best known for "

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

". * Richard Trentlage (Class of 1947), – Musician, composer of the "Oscar Mayer Weiner Jingle", "McDonald's is your kind of place!", "Buckle up for safety, buckle up!" and many other mindsticking, advertising ditties.Obituary 12/27/1928-9/21/2016, Davenport Family Funeral Home Crystal Lake, Il> * Martin Joyce - United States Air Force *George L. Safranek, PhD. (Class of 1950), - Geophysicist,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

, University of Texas

References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1909 Educational institutions disestablished in 2007 Public high schools in Chicago Former high schools in Illinois 1909 establishments in Illinois 2007 disestablishments in Illinois