Public secondary school in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, United States
Buffalo Grove High School
(
BGHS
) is a public
high school
located in
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
, a northwestern suburb of
Chicago
. It is one of six four-year comprehensive high schools in
Township High School District 214
, serving portions of the villages of Buffalo Grove,
Arlington Heights
, and
Wheeling
. Feeder schools are
Cooper Middle School
,
Thomas Middle School
, and London Middle School.
History
[
edit
]
Buffalo Grove High School opened in 1973, drawing students and staff from
Wheeling
and
John Hersey
High Schools. Dr. Clarence M. "Chick" Miller, formerly assistant principal at
Wheeling High School
, was named the school's first principal.
On March 12, 1976, President
Gerald Ford
, during his campaign against former California Governor
Ronald Reagan
, made a March primary appearance in the gymnasium of Buffalo Grove High School.
[5]
In 2003, new classrooms, a foyer, and offices opened as part of a six-million dollar renovation. The "Circle Drive" on the west side of the school was greatly reduced in size to make room for the new classrooms and foyer. The new classrooms included new science labs and special-ed facilities. Additionally, room was made in old storage space on the second floor of the south side of the building for new foreign-language classrooms.
On August 27, 2004, the Bison hosted their first Friday night game under new lights at Bison Stadium. They were the final team in the Mid-Suburban League to switch from Saturday afternoons to Friday night games.
Academics
[
edit
]
Buffalo Grove High School won a 1999?2000 Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence, presented by the
United States Department of Education
.
[6]
In 2008, the average ACT score was 23.3, and 95.5% of the class of 2008 graduated on time. BGHS failed to meet
Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) according to the federal
No Child Left Behind Act
because of scores below the minimum target on the
Prairie State Achievement Examination
and ACT in two student subgroups.
[7]
Athletics
[
edit
]
A renovation of the school in 2014 added a multimillion-dollar pool area. Teams from Buffalo Grove HS compete in the
Mid-Suburban League
(MSL). Buffalo Grove is also a member of the
Illinois High School Association
(IHSA), the governing body for most interscholastic sports and competitive activities in Illinois.
[8]
The school sponsors interscholastic teams for boys and girls in
basketball
,
cross country
,
golf
,
lacrosse
,
gymnastics
,
soccer
,
swimming
&
diving
,
tennis
,
track & field
,
volleyball
, and
water polo
. Boys may compete in
baseball
,
football
, and
wrestling
. Girls may compete in
badminton
,
bowling
, and
softball
. In 2011 the school inducted a co-ed competitive cheerleading team to perform at athletic games and compete in the winter and spring.
State championships
[
edit
]
[9]
- Basketball (Girls): 1999?00
- Bass fishing: 2016?17
- Football: 1986?87
- Soccer (Boys): 1988?89
- Competitive Co-Ed Cheerleading: 2012?13, 2014?15, 2015?16, 2022?23
[10]
Activities
[
edit
]
Buffalo Grove supports 47 student clubs and activities, an entire and updated list of which can be found at the school's website.
[11]
These include music, the arts, culture and language, social/political action, and student government. Buffalo Grove also has a nationally recognized Speech and Debate team, boasting the 99th best Lincoln Douglas Debate team in the National Forensics League.
Among the clubs are chapters of these more nationally notable groups:
NJROTC
, SADD,
Scholastic Bowl
,
Science Olympiad
(which won the Illinois State Championship in 1989, 1990 and 2024), and
Mathletes
.
[12]
In March 2012, the Scholastic Bowl Team qualified for the IHSA State Meet in Peoria, Illinois by beating William Fremd High School in the Sectional Final at North Chicago High School. They were also the Regional Champions and MSL Conference Champions, beating Fremd in dramatic fashion 485-480.
Another prominent group at Buffalo Grove was its
show choir
, The Expressions. This mixed competition show choir was composed of 38 singer-dancers, 12 band members and 4 crew members.
[13]
Similar to the hit television show
Glee
, the group met as a class and competed throughout the country at various show choir competitions. They attended the Dekalb Indiana Show Choir Invitational Competition, the Chicagoland Showcase Competition, and the Nashville Show Choir Nationals Competition.
[13]
Notable alumni
[
edit
]
- Tim Bogar
?
Major League Baseball
infielder
(1993?2001), primarily for
New York Mets
and
Houston Astros
, First Base Coach of
Washington Nationals
, former interim manager of
Texas Rangers
[14]
- Melanie Chandra
? actress,
Code Black
- Larry Doyle
? comic writer who worked on
The Simpsons
(1997?2001); first novel,
Thurber Prize
-winning
I Love You, Beth Cooper
, is set at Buffalo Grove High School.
[15]
[16]
- Lindsey Durlacher
? Greco-Roman wrestler who competed for U.S.
- Doug Ghim
PGA professional golfer.
- Felice Herrig
(2003) ? professional
Mixed Martial Artist
, current
UFC
Strawweight
[17]
- Brett Lebda
? professional
ice hockey
defenseman
, member of
2008
Stanley Cup
champion
Detroit Red Wings
[18]
[19]
- Mike Marshall
? Major League Baseball
outfielder
and
first baseman
(1981?91), primarily with
Los Angeles Dodgers
; member of
1988 World Series
champions
[20]
- Brian McBride
? professional soccer player, first overall selection in inaugural
MLS
draft in 1996; has since played in three
FIFA World Cups
for the
US men's national soccer team
[21]
[22]
[23]
- Josh Paul
? Major League Baseball
catcher
(1999?2007), primarily with
Chicago White Sox
[24]
- Jessy Schram
? actress; among notable roles are Hannah Griffith in
Veronica Mars
, Rachel Seybolt in
Life
, Karen in
Falling Skies
and Cinderella/Ashley Boyd in
Once Upon a Time
- Judd Sirott
? radio broadcaster, nationally for NHL, locally with
Chicago Wolves
,
Chicago Blackhawks
, and
WGN (AM)
with
Chicago Cubs
[25]
[26]
[27]
- Don Thorp
?
defensive lineman
in
NFL
(1984, 1987?88)
[28]
- Tom Zbikowski
?
special teams
for NFL's
Baltimore Ravens
,
Indianapolis Colts
and
Chicago Bears
, as well as professional boxer
[29]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Superintendent"
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Buffalo Grove High School"
. National Center for Education Statistics
. Retrieved
June 21,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
School info for BGHS; ihsa.org; accessed June 15, 2009
- ^
a
b
Activities List for BGHS; accessed June 15, 2009
Archived
September 7, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"BG Turns 60: A Look Back on Village's Early Years, Rapid Growth - Journal & Topics Media Group"
. 22 March 2018.
- ^
"
BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS PROGRAM ? Schools Recognized ? 1982?1983 Through 1999?2002
; United States Dept. of Education; p. 28; accessed June 15, 2009"
(PDF)
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2003-09-22
. Retrieved
2013-01-15
.
- ^
Class of 2008 school report card; accessed June 15, 2009
[
dead link
]
- ^
"Buffalo Grove"
.
School Directory
. Illinois High School Association
. Retrieved
8 February
2023
.
- ^
"Buffalo Grove"
.
Season Summaries
. Illinois High School Association
. Retrieved
8 February
2023
.
- ^
"IHSA Cheer State Final 2023 - Final Round"
. TourneyWire
. Retrieved
8 February
2023
.
- ^
"Clubs and Activities"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-09-07
. Retrieved
2009-03-04
.
- ^
Student Activities at BGHS; accessed June 15, 2009
Archived
September 7, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
"Buffalo Grove HS Choir"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 August 2011
. Retrieved
25 April
2012
.
- ^
Tim Bogar stats & bio; baseballcube.com; accessed June 15, 2009
- ^
"Nuckols, Ben (AP);
First-time novelist Larry Doyle is so immature, thank heavens
; July 19, 2007;
Oakland Tribune
; accessed June 15, 2009"
. Findarticles.com
. Retrieved
2013-01-15
.
- ^
Budasi, Teresa (2008-08-20).
"Budasi, Teresa;
Buffalo Grove native a finalist for Thurber Prize
; August 20, 2008;
Chicago Sun-Times
; accessed June 15, 2009"
. Blogs.suntimes.com. Archived from
the original
on 2012-10-19
. Retrieved
2013-01-15
.
- ^
"Buffalo Grove fighter Felice Herrig gets her shot on reality TV - Chicago Tribune"
.
articles.chicagotribune.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2010-12-04.
- ^
Wilcox, George M.;
BG native brings Stanley Cup to suburbs
; August 28, 2008;
Buffalo Grove Countryside
- ^
"Wigge, Larry;
Lebda steps in and steps up for ailing Ericsson
; May 28, 2009; nhl.com; accessed June 15, 2009"
. Nhl.com. 2009-05-28
. Retrieved
2013-01-15
.
- ^
Mike Marshall stats & bio; baseballcube.com; accessed June 15, 2009
- ^
"Brian McBride player stats and bio; Chicago Fire Homepage; accessed June 15, 2009"
. Chicago.fire.mlsnet.com. 2004-01-13. Archived from
the original
on 2010-02-09
. Retrieved
2013-01-15
.
- ^
McGrath, Chris;
Brian McBride: Strife of Brian
; May 3, 2008;
The Independent
; accessed June 15, 2009
- ^
Wilcox, George M.;
McBride heading home, via China
; August 7, 2008;
Buffalo Grove Countryside
accessed June 15, 2009
[
dead link
]
- ^
Josh Pau stats & bio; baseballcube.com; accessed June 15, 2009
- ^
Judd Sirott biography; wgnradio.com; accessed June 16, 2009
Archived
June 11, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Judd Sirott bio; Chicago Blackhawks homepage; accessed June 16, 2009
Archived
December 28, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Judd Sirott Named Host of WGN Radio's Cubs Central Pregame
; wgnradio.com; accessed June 16, 2009
Archived
March 10, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Don Thorp stats & bio; databasefootball.com; accessed June 15, 2009"
. Databasefootball.com. 1962-10-07. Archived from
the original
on October 11, 2012
. Retrieved
2013-01-15
.
- ^
"Tom Zbikowski stats & bio; databasefootball.com; accessed June 15, 2009"
. Databasefootball.com. 1985-05-22. Archived from
the original
on October 19, 2012
. Retrieved
2013-01-15
.
External links
[
edit
]
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West Division
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