Thomas Kelly College Preparatory 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 Brighton Park neighborhood on the southwest 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 state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, United States. The school is named for Irish nationalist Thomas J. Kelly. Kelly is the third largest Chicago public high school in terms of student population. Over 80% of students are

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

. The school's team name is Trojans. Opened in 1928, Kelly is a part of 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.

History

Kelly opened its doors as a junior high school on December 3, 1928, only serving grades six through ninth. On July 12, 1933, the Chicago Board of Education abolished all junior high schools in Chicago, and on September 17, 1933, for the 1933–34 school year; Kelly reopened as a senior high school.

Athletics

Kelly 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).

Notable alumni

Lenny Gomulka Lenny Gomulka is an American musician, singer, songwriter, bandleader, composer, and publisher. One of his bands, ''Lenny Gomulka and Chicago Push'', popular for American & Polish-style and Chicago-style polkas. Gomulka has also collaborated numer ...

– Professional Polka Bandleader and Musician *

Kevin Hickey Kevin John Hickey (February 25, 1956 – May 16, 2012) was an American left-handed pitcher who spent six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox (1981–1983) and Baltimore Orioles (1989–1991). It was with the White ...

– Major League Pitcher for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

and the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Ron Masak Ronald Alan Masak (July 1, 1936 – October 20, 2022) was an American actor. He began working as a stage performer, and mostly was involved in theater until transitioning to film and television becoming a familiar character actor. From 1988 to 19 ...

- American Actor * John Joseph Ryba – former Wisconsin state representative (1993–2003) * Joe Young – 1952, former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

in the early American Football League

References

Public high schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1928 1928 establishments in Illinois {{Chicago-struct-stub