Joliet West High School, along with Joliet Central, comprises district 204 Joliet Township High School district in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

. West's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

is the

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

Construction and expansion

Construction of the school began in 1963, with the first classes held in September 1964. It has undergone six additions since. The first, completed in the early 1980s, added a bookstore to the

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

, additional space around the maintenance area, a multi-purpose room by the gymnasiums (primarily used for dance and wrestling), six additional classrooms, and a

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

. That greenhouse was later torn down. The second and third additions were completed as two consecutive projects, adding several additional classrooms, a new band room, cafeteria, conference room, dean's offices, and student commons area. The first phase broke ground on November 4, 2001, and was completed the following school year. The second phase began during the 2002–03 year and was open for fall 2003 classes. A field house was built in late 2007, and additional housing science classes was constructed in 2011. In 2017, construction began on another smaller section of the building adding a Police Liaison Office, a conference room, and a security entrance. This project would be completed in Spring 2018. The project also added another connection from the main building to the fine-arts building, decreasing hallway traffic congestion.

Separation of schools

During the 2008 - 2009 school year, Central and West began to again divide the schools' athletic programs, allowing the West mascot to become the Tiger once again, leaving Central as the Steelmen. The split began with Joliet's freshman football team dividing. As of the 2010 - 2011 school year, Joliet Central and Joliet West have their own, entirely independent sports programs.

Notable alumni

* Charlie Adams, drummer/percussionist (

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis (; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthand that he developed as a child, blending jazz, clas ...

) *

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman MBE (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his roles as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2010; 2020–2021) and its spin-off ''Torc ...

, television and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

actor (''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British-American science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect i ...

'') *

Jimmy Chamberlin James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the ...

, drummer (

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

) *

Adrianne Curry Adrianne Marie Curry-Rhode (born August 6, 1982) is an American fashion model, actress and television personality. She is best known as the winner of the first cycle of ''America's Next Top Model'' in 2003. Career Modeling Curry won the first ...

- model, TV personality *

Andy Dick Andrew Roane Dick (born Andrew Thomlinson, December 21, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Dick was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and joined The Second City and studied improvisational theater. Dick has had a long career as a stand ...

- actor-comedian ( The Andy Dick Show) * Janina Gavankar - actress, musician (

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

) * Randall Kleck - martial artist * Eric Parker - NFL player for San Diego Chargers * Steve Parris - pitcher for four MLB teams *

Doug Pinnick Douglas Theodore Pinnick (born September 3, 1950), sometimes stylized as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and songwriter for the hard rock and progressive metal band King's X. ...

- musician,

King's X King's X is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Springfield, Missouri, in 1979. They were first called the Edge and later became Sneak Preview before settling on its current name in 1985. The band's current lineup has remained intact fo ...

Anthony Rapp Anthony Deane Rapp (born October 26, 1971) is an American actor and singer who originated the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway theatre, Broadway production of ''Rent (musical), Rent''. Following his original performance of the role in 1996, he ...

- actor ( Rent)

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Public high schools in Illinois Education in Joliet, Illinois Schools in Will County, Illinois 1964 establishments in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1964