Kelvyn Park High School 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 ''Öffentlichk ...

4–year

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 ...

located in the Hermosa neighborhood on north-west 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. Opened in 1933, Kelvyn Park is operated by the

Chicago Public Schools 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. ...

(CPS) district. In addition to being a neighborhood high school, Kelvyn Park also serves as a

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. ...

with seventh and eighth grades. Kelvyn Park attendance boundaries extends to the

Logan Square Logan Square may refer to: * Logan Square, Chicago, a neighborhood on the north side of the city * Logan Circle (Philadelphia) or Logan Square, a park in Philadelphia **Logan Square, Philadelphia Logan Square is a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Bou ...

, Cragin and Belmont Gardens neighborhoods.

History

Kelvyn Park began as an elementary school in 1918. Before that time, the land contained 19 portable units that were connected to Nixon Elementary School. In 1925, a junior high school was organized in the building to relieve pressure at Carl Schurz High School, which was overcrowded at the time. In 1927, some of the Kelvyn Park elementary students were phased-out to the newly constructed Barry Elementary School. In 1933, Kelvyn Park became a high school; however, elementary students remained until 1936. Historically, the school had been populated by students of primarily European-American descent. By the early–1970's, Kelvyn Park witnessed a significant demographic shift with the arrival of Latin–Americans in the surrounding community. Kelvyn Park's Hispanic population had increased more than four-fold by the 1977–1978 school year. Kelvyn Park has been converted into a 7–12 grade school to compensate for the loss of Ames Middle School which is being converted into the Marine Math and Science Academy. The conversion of Ames is considered controversial among community stakeholders and is currently being contested.

Demographics

As of the 2022–2023 school year, 87.1% of Kelvyn Park's student body is Hispanic, 8.9% African-American, 2.8% White and 1.2% Other. Low-income students make up 82.7% of Kelvyn Parks' student body. Kelvyn Park has a 64% graduation rate.

Athletics

Kelvyn Park competes in the Chicago Public League (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 Fe ...

(IHSA). Their sport teams are stylized and named the Panthers. Kelvyn Park boys' basketball team were Public League champions for the 1942–43 season and were regional champions in 1935–36 under the coaching of Phil Brownstein. Boys' volleyball were regional champions twice (2002–03 and 2003–04).

Clubs and athletics

*Boys/Girls Basketball *Band *Cheerleader *Boys/Girls Cross Country *Pom-Pom *Boys/Girls Soccer *Wrestling *Boys/Girls Track *Boys/Girls Volleyball *Boys Baseball *Girls softball

Other Information

Kelvyn Park was the subject of a 1979

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

news special (which aired locally in Chicago on WTTW) called ''As We See It'', a short documentary created by Kelvyn Park students about desegeration of the school (which at the time Kelvyn Park's student body was changing from predominantly White to Hispanic) and student life at the school.Kelvyn Park High School (Chicago, Illinois) – 1979 Yearbook
/ref>

Notable alumni

Gordie Gillespie Gordie Gillespie (April 14, 1926 – February 28, 2015) was an American baseball, football and basketball coach. He was a head baseball coach for 58 years at Lewis University, Ripon College, and the University of St. Francis. With a career co ...

(1944) – College baseball, football and basketball coach (

Lewis University Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. The enrollment is currently around 6,800 students. Lewis offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, 22 graduate pr ...

, Ripon College, University of St. Francis). * Michael Gross (1964) – actor, (''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States ...

'', '' Tremors'').

References

External links

Kelvyn Park High School Website

Trulia: Kelyvn Park High School
Public high schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1918 Educational institutions established in 1933 1933 establishments in Illinois {{authority control