Maine South High School (officially known as Maine Township High School South) is a public four-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

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a Chicago suburb. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located northwest of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways, a ...

, a northwest suburb 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 ...

, in the United States. It is part of

Maine Township High School District 207 Maine Township High School District 207 is a school district based in Illinois. Composed of all of Park Ridge and most of Des Plaines, as well as portions of Glenview, Harwood Heights, Morton Grove, Niles, Norridge, and Norwood Park Townsh ...

, which also includes

Maine East High School Maine East High School, or Maine East, and officially Maine Township High School East, is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Dempster Street and Potter Road in Park Ridge, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, in the Unite ...

and

Maine West High School Maine West High School, also known as Maine West or MWHS, is a public four-year high school located in Des Plaines, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Maine Township High School District 207, w ...

. Maine South is well known for its academic, athletic, and fine arts success. Since at least 1992 it has also received mention in national media as the alma mater of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, a member of the school's first graduating class.

History

Bids on the construction of Maine South opened on March 18, 1963. Maine South was built in 1964 on the grounds of a former landfill to meet the growing educational needs of the area, mainly the city of Park Ridge, but also some of Niles, Harwood Heights, Norridge, and unincorporated

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

. The first principal, Clyde Watson, was appointed in December 1963, in order to give him time to begin forming the first parents and music booster clubs. Until 1969, students were under a dress code that included a requirement for men to be clean shaven, and that hair had to be cut above the collar. 1969 also saw the first expansion of the school with the addition of the student cafeteria, and some physical education and classroom areas. In 1973, the

North Central Association The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...

, an academic accreditation agency, rated Maine South as "one of the top 10 high schools in the nation." In 1986 and 1987, officials from Maine South were instrumental in pushing 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 ...

to recognize girls soccer. The 1988–1989 school year saw Maine South recognized by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...

as a Blue Ribbon School. In 1996, after several decades of existing in the shadow of nearby O'Hare International Airport, the school received federal funds which allowed for the installation of soundproof windows, air conditioning, and sound dampening ceilings. The project began in 1997 and took three years to complete. 1998 saw the completion of the last major addition to the building: a sixteen classroom, four laboratory extension on the east end of the academic wing. In 2008, graduation ceremonies, which since the first graduating class had been held on campus (except for the 2004 graduating ceremonies, which were held at Harper Community College due to the construction of the new bleachers), were moved to the nearby Rosemont Theatre. Over the summer of 2009, the athletic stadium had lights and an artificial turf surface installed. In July 2011, the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

certified that the Maine South class of 2014 had set a world record for the most multiple birth sets in the same academic year (16 sets of twins and 3 sets of triplets).

Academics

Maine South's academic programs range from remedial/academy class, to accelerated honors/AP classes. Based on performances in 2008, Maine South is ranked 11th among public non-magnet high schools in the state of Illinois, ranked according to a standardization of Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) scores. Maine South is ranked 9th by the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

among public non-magnet high schools in Illinois, ranked according to average PSAE scores. The Foreign Language Department offers five-year programs in French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, and a four-year program in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Student life

Academic competition

The Maine South Constitution Team has won the Center for Civic Education's "We The People" competition in Illinois for the past sixteen years straight. In 1999 the team won the national competition in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

In 2007, the school's Scholastic Bowl team won the state championship tournament sponsored by the Ancient, Free, & Accepted Masons of Illinois. The

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

team won IHSA State Championships in 2001–02, 2002–03, & 2006–07.

Athletics

Maine South sponsors teams for both boys and girls in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, cross country,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

, soccer,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

. Boys are also able to compete in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, football, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, while girls are able to compete in

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

, and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

. Maine South competes in the

Central Suburban League The Central Suburban League is an IHSA-recognized high school extracurricular conference comprising 12 public schools located in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. Comprising 12 relatively large high schools, it is among the larger high school ...

South Division. In state competition, Maine South competes in the largest potential school classes in each sport sponsored by the

. The following teams have won IHSA sponsored State Championship Tournaments: *Basketball (boys): 1978–79 *Football: 1995–96, 2000–01, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2016–17 *Swimming & Diving (girls): 1975–76 *Volleyball (boys): 2005–06 *Dance Team (Hawkettes): 2013 In addition, the girls soccer team won three consecutive unofficial State Championship Tournaments in 1983–84, 1984–85, and 1985–86, prior to the IHSA sanctioning soccer for girls. Over that time, the team went 60-0-4. From 1985 to 1987, the team scored in 62 consecutive matches, which is an Illinois state record among girls teams, and would be second if boys teams were also included. The Maine South Hawkettes dance team won UDA National Championships in High Kick in 2011, 2017, and 2019. Maine South football has been one of the most successful programs in Illinois in recent history. Maine South went to the 8A State Championship game 6 out of 8 years between 2003 and 2011. During that stretch, Maine South was runner up from 2003 to 2005 and won three consecutive state championships from 2009 to 2011. The team has qualified for the IHSA playoffs each year since 1992, and has only two losing seasons since 1980. Only six teams in the State of Illinois have longer active streaks qualifying for the playoffs (through 2012–13). Maine South has not lost a conference football game since 2000 participating in the

. Maine South is well known for their football program throughout the nation. They were ranked first in state from 2009 to 2012 during which produced 3 of 4 Illinois Player of the Year in Charlie Goro (2009, QB), Matt Perez (2010, RB), and Matt Alviti (2012, QB). Maine South is also known as QB High. The previous 6 starting QBs have received scholarships to

Division I (NCAA) NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

programs, with 5 of 6 accepting the

scholarships. *Sean Price: Central Michigan (MAC) *Tyler Knight: Northern Illinois (MAC) *Jimmy Coy: Saint Xavier University ( NAIA Player of the Year) *Charlie Goro: Vanderbilt (SEC) *Tyler Benz: Eastern Michigan (MAC) *Matt Alviti: Northwestern (Big 10)

Clubs

Maine South supports 79 student organizations running the gamut from academic competition and performing arts to public service and special interest clubs. Among the organizations, from the standpoint of national or international notability, are branches or chapters of the

National Forensic Association The National Forensic Association (NFA) is an American intercollegiate organization designed to promote excellence in individual events and debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a m ...

Quill and Scroll Quill and Scroll is an international high school journalism honor society that recognizes and encourages both individual and group achievements in scholastic journalism. According to the Quill and Scroll website, over 14,104 high schools in all ...

, SADD,

Tri-M Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is an American high school and middle school music honor society. A program of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), it is designed to recognize students for their ...

, DECA,

Mu Alpha Theta Mu Alpha Theta () is the United States mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. In June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and in 20 foreign countries. Its mai ...

, National Honor Society, and Amnesty International. WMTH (WMTH-TV/FM) is a club that is connected with broadcasting classes at Maine South and at the other schools in the district. The radio station broadcasts on 90.5 FM and can be heard within the

area, as well as through a webcast through the district webpages. The transmitting tower for the station is located at

. The club also films the Maine South Hawks home football games.

Fine arts

The school sponsors several musical groups, including:

marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

, concert band, two symphony bands, chamber orchestra, three symphony orchestras, a jazz band, and many choirs. In addition, there are four theatrical performances per year including a musical each spring, a play in the fall and winter, and a variety show in the fall. The marching band has performed at several major events, including the 1981 Cherry Blossom Festival parade in Washington D.C, the 1984

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

. It later performed at the 1996, 1999, and 2001

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

Parades. The band also performed at the 1993 Presidential Inauguration Parade, as a representative of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's alma mater. In 2001, the Grammy Foundation named Maine South a Signature School. In 2009 and 2011, violinist Mark Wood taught a series of workshops to the members of the school orchestra in preparation for a concert he performed with them.

Notable alumni

Politics and law

Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

(1965), former First Lady of the United States (1993–2001), U.S. Senator from New York (2001–2009),

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

(2009–2013), two-time presidential candidate, and nominee of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Clinton only attended Maine South during her senior year, which coincided with Maine South's first year of existence. For her first three years of high school, she attended Maine East. * Mark Filip, federal district court judge for the

Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois a ...

(2004–08) * Hugh Rodham (1968), politician * Tony Rodham (1972), political consultant *

Penny Pullen Penny Pullen (born March 2, 1947) is an American politician and conservative activist. Pullen spent eight terms in the Illinois General Assembly representing a district in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Pullen also served on various presiden ...

(1965), former Illinois State representative and conservative activist

Arts and entertainment

Danny Corkill Daniel Bryon Corkill (born March 8, 1974) is an American former child actor who saw early success in such films as ''Without a Trace'' and '' D.A.R.Y.L.''. He appeared in a number of commercials and had a small part in the TV series '' Ryan's H ...

(1992), child actor. *

Greg Glienna Greg M. Glienna (born in Chicago, Illinois, August 23, 1963) is an American director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the original 1992 film '' Meet the Parents''. Glienna also wrote ''A Guy Thing'' and wrote and directed '' Relativ ...

(1981), screenwriter *

Dave Mallow Dave Mallow (born October 19, 1948) is a retired American voice actor. Biography Mallow's father worked in radio and television and was a 30-year on-air veteran at Chicago's WGN. After graduating from Maine South High School, Mallow attained a ...

(1966), voice actor *

Frank Merle Frank Merle is an American screenwriter, director and producer best known for '' The Employer'' and '' From Jennifer.'' Also a theatrical producer and director, Merle trained at The Theatre School at DePaul University. Film career After graduat ...

(1997), filmmaker *

John Pankow John Pankow (born April 28, 1954) is an American actor. He began his career on-stage in New York, in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway plays including Peter Shaffer's ''Amadeus'', John Patrick Shanley's '' Italian American Reconciliation,'' a ...

(1973), actor * Sean Giambrone, actor known for TV series The Goldbergs

Athletics

Dave Bergman David Bruce Bergman (June 6, 1953 – February 2, 2015) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman, designated hitter and left fielder who played between 1975 and 1992. Early life Born in Evanston, Illinois, Bergman was an alumnus of ...

(1971),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

first baseman *

Dave Butz David Roy Butz (June 23, 1950 – November 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in a 16-year career from 1 ...

(1969), NFL defensive lineman * Tom Hoff (1991), indoor U.S. volleyball Olympian (

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, 2004,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

) *

Nancy Swider Nancy Louise Swider-Peltz (born August 20, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American former Olympic speed skater (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988) who held the world record in the 3,000 meters in 1976. She was the first U.S. Olympian to compete in four dif ...

(1974), Olympic speedskater (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, 1980,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

) * Jim Walewander (1980),

player * Joe Zdeb, Major League Baseball outfielder (1978–79) * Adam Rosales (2001), major league baseball third baseman * Jim Rushford, Major League Baseball outfielder *

David Santee David Neil Santee (born July 22, 1957 in Oak Park, Illinois) is an American former competitive figure skater. He finished fourth in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and is the 1981 World silver medalist and an eight-time U.S. national ...

(1975), Olympic figure skater (

, 1980) *

Brian Schlitter Brian Patrick Schlitter (born December 21, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs and Oakla ...

, professional baseball pitcher * Boris Shlapak, professional football and soccer player * Kyle Thomson, professional soccer player

Other

Susan Lindquist Susan Lee Lindquist, ForMemRS (June 5, 1949 – October 27, 2016) was an American professor of biology at MIT specializing in molecular biology, particularly the protein folding problem within a family of molecules known as heat-shock proteins ...

, microbiologist *

Karen McCarron Karen Frank-McCarron (born December 20, 1968) is a German-born American pathologist convicted in Illinois of first degree murder of her autistic daughter Katherine "Katie" McCarron. Background Early life, education and career Karen Frank- ...

, murderer * Ray Ozzie (1973), software industry entrepreneur * Janet Shamlian (1980), journalist,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

news correspondent

References

External links

Official website

* ttp://www.mainesouthalumni.org/ Maine South High School Alumni website
WMTH Alumni website

{{authority control Park Ridge, Illinois Educational institutions established in 1964 Public high schools in Cook County, Illinois 1964 establishments in Illinois