Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. College Preparatory High School (commonly known as King College Prep or locally as King) 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 ...

4-year selective enrollment

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

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 Kenwood neighborhood on the south side of

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

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, United States. Opened in 1971, The school is named for slain leader of the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

, Rev. Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

(1929–1968). 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. ...

district, King is one of the district's ten selective enrollment schools, which means that its students must apply for acceptance, based on academic achievement and test scores. In 2010, under then–principal Jeff Wright, King College Prep was named a "Silver Medal" school b
''U.S. News & World Report''
in its annual rankings of America's best high schools. During the 2016–2017 school year, the school was promoted to a level one plus rank school.

History

The school was founded as Forrestville High School in 1964, which was located 4401 S. Saint Lawrence Avenue (less than a mile west of King's location). Housed in a former elementary school, School officials and community members requested to 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 ...

a new school building was needed to accommodate the increasing enrollment of Forrestville, which by 1968 was around 2,100. The school opened as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. High School for a class of 650 summer school students on June 28, 1971. The school later opened for the 1971–1972 academic school year on September 8, 1971, with an enrollment of 1,800.Chicago Tribune, Martin Luther King High School Dedication Ceremonies Today, 17 October 1971
Retrieved December 7, 2019. The school, which costed $7 million to construct was officially dedicated to civil rights activist and minister Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on October 17, 1971, by Chicago mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...

, Chicago Public Schools superintendent James F. Redmond and the schools' principal Charles Almo. The school opened as a neighborhood high school, with most of the student body being from surrounding neighborhoods (which consisted of Kenwood, Grand Boulevard and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

) and the former Forrestville High School. King became a selective enrollment school during the 2000–2001 school year and was renamed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. College Preparatory High School.

Curriculum and activities

Honors classes and

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 ...

courses are offered in every subject area. College coursework is accessible through King's college and university partners. Advanced coursework is possible in Visual and Performing Arts (Band, Dance, Drama,

Graphic Arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface.

, Vocal Music). King's band and choir have represented Chicago at the Presidential Inaugural Heritage Music Festival in Washington D.C. In 2008, King's marching band opened for Stone Temple Pilots at their Chicago concert. In 2012, the King College Prep Marching Band again traveled to Washington D.C for the Presidential Inaugural Heritage Music Festival. The band and choir placed first in their divisions. In addition to placing first in their division, the band is also 4–time winners of the High School Battle of the Bands at the annual Chicago Football Classic.

Athletics

King 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). King's sport teams are known as the Jaguars. King's boys' basketball team were Class AA ten times (1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98 and 1998–99) and public league champions six times (1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94 and 1998–99) under the leadership of Landon "Sonny" Cox. And Regional Champions in 2020-21 Season Under Leadership of Culumber Ball. The girls' basketball team were regional champions in 2009–10. King's boys' wrestling team were regional champions three times (2009–10, 2010–11 and 2011–12). The boys' track and field were Class AA two times (1975–76 and 1976–77).

Boys' basketball

The boys' basketball team was dominant during the mid-1980s throughout the 1990s, produced numerous

Illinois Mr. Basketball The Illinois Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Illinois. Most of the award winners have gone on to play at the highest levels of college basketball, and many have ...

's, and were nationally ranked on a regular basis. 1982 graduate,

Efrem Winters Efrem Zimbalist Winters (born December 19, 1963) is an American former collegiate basketball player. At a height of 6'9" (2.05 m) tall, he played at the power forward position. High school A native of Chicago, Illinois, Winters attended King Hi ...

, was named

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of that year's

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

game. After a college career at

, Winters was drafted by the NBA's

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

. Former NBA player

Marcus Liberty Marcus Liberty (born October 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. He played four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Liberty played college basketball for the University of Illinois. High school After ...

, who was a member of the 1989 Illinois Flyin' Illini attended King and was widely regarded as the #1 player in the nation. In 1990, King won the Illinois state title, going 32–0, and was ranked #1 nationally behind star guard/forward Jamie Brandon. After initially committing to Illinois, Brandon went on to play alongside

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

after the Ilini went on NCAA probation. He later played in France, Croatia, Finland and Honduras. In 1993, King had 7'2" Thomas Hamilton and 7'0"

Rashard Griffith Rashard Nathan Griffith (born October 8, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. Early career A native of Chicago, Illinois, Griffith starred for the nationally ranked King Jaguars of the Chicago Public League, where he was p ...

, who led the Jaguars to a state championship. Imari Sawyer played for King from 1996 to 2000 before starring at DePaul. All of these players were coached by outspoken Chicago legend Landon “Sonny” Cox.

Notable alumni

* Jeff Allen (2008) – football player, NFL offensive lineman for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. *

Michael Clarke Duncan Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He was best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...

(1976) –

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

–nominated actor ('' The Green Mile'', ''

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

''). *

(1993) – former professional basketball player (1995–2004) who predominantly played in European basketball leagues. * Thomas Hamilton (1993) – a former

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. *

(1987) – former NBA

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

(1990–94), who spent most of his NBA career with the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

. * Hadiya Pendleton – a 15-year-old African–American girl who was a

majorette A majorette is a baton twirler whose twirling performance is often accompanied by dance, movement, or gymnastics; they are primarily associated with marching bands during parades. Majorettes can also spin knives, fire knives, flags, light-up ...

in King's marching band that was fatally shot in the back in Chicago on January 29, 2013, about a week after performing at President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's second inauguration. Outgoing White House Press Secretary and Treasury Secretary nominee

Jacob Lew Jacob Joseph Lew (born August 29, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 76th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as the 25th White House Chief of St ...

released a statement of condolence. *

(1982) – former basketball player.

Notable staff

* Landon "Sonny" Cox – a jazz

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

player who served as the school's head boys basketball coach.

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Public high schools in Chicago 1971 establishments in Illinois Magnet schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1971