Batavia High School (Illinois)

Batavia High School, or BHS, is a public four-year high school located in Batavia, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It was created by the merger of West Batavia High School and East Batavia High School (and their separate school districts) in 1911 and is part of Batavia Unified School District 101; the East Batavia and West Batavia athletic programs merged in 1909. Since 2009, the school has added a new "D Wing" of classrooms, "E Wing" of music rooms, a fieldhouse, new athletic facilities, and an auditorium ("F Wing"), which was completed in 2011.

Batavia High School
Address
1201 Main Street

Batavia
,
Illinois
60510

United States
Coordinates41.8483°N 88.3322°W / 41.8483; -88.3322
Information
School typePublic, Secondary
Established1969
School districtBatavia Public School District 101
SuperintendentDr. Lisa Hichens[1]
PrincipalDr. JoAnne Smith[2]
Teaching staff117.17 (FTE)[3]
Grades9-12
GenderCoed
Enrollment1,942 (2018-19)[3]
Student to teacher ratio16.57[3]
Campus typeSuburban
Color(s)  crimson
  gold[4]
SongBatavia Loyalty
Athletics conferenceDuKane Conference[4]
MascotBulldog
Team nameBulldogs [4]
RivalGeneva High School
NewspaperSpectator
YearbookEcho
Websitehttp://bhs.bps101.net

The school was notably featured in the 2007 documentary film Sand and Sorrow which chronicles the origins and consequences of the ongoing genocide in Darfur. The film highlights the activism of students Riley and Hannah MacDonald and their efforts to organize aid for Darfur and galvanize other students into taking action.

Academics

The average class size is 24.1.[5]

In 2010, Batavia graduated 474 students. 58.9% of these graduates enrolled in a four-year college, 29.7% enrolled in a two-year college, 1.5% went directly to employment, 1.7% went into the military, and 7.8% had plans elsewhere. The class of 2015 had an ACT mean composite score of 24.[6]

Athletics

Batavia was a founding member of the Western Sun Conference (WSC), but joined the Upstate Eight Conference the following dissolution of the WSC in June 2010. In 2018–19, Batavia left the Upstate Eight to join the DuKane Conference. BHS is a full member of the Illinois High School Association. The school's mascot is a Bulldog and the team is often referred to as the "Battlin' Bulldogs." The school's biggest rival is Geneva High School, which is located in Geneva, a town directly to the north of Batavia. From 1913 through 2014, the Geneva Vikings and the Batavia Bulldogs have faced off on the football field 97 times. The current record is 51–41–5, favoring Geneva. The Batavia–Geneva game is among the twenty-oldest football rivalries in the state of Illinois.[7]

Basketball: Batavia is known for its boys' basketball tradition for over a century and is known for its exciting atmosphere including the Batavia Pep Band, Cheerleaders, and the Dance Team; its first team dates to 1905–06. Batavia finished 4th in 1921 and won its only state championship in 1912. Former Bulldogs hoopsters include Ken Anderson, Dan Issel, Dean Anderson, and the late TNT sideline announcer, Craig Sager.

Soccer: Batavia competes in IHSA competition in both boys and girls soccer. Batavia soccer alumni include 1989 Collegiate Champion Mike Fisher.[8]

Football: The 2011 season, the Bulldogs went 9–0 (first in school history). In 2006, the Batavia Varsity Football Team played in the Class 6A State Championship game at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium against Normal Community High School. They took second place. In 2013, the Bulldogs headed back to the 6A championship game, emerging victorious with a 34–14 victory over Richards High School of Oak Lawn. In 2017, the Bulldogs advanced to the 7A Championship game in Northern Illinois University' Huskie Stadium, where they beat Lake Zurich High School 20–14 in overtime to capture their second state title.

Marching Band: In 2009, The Marching Bulldogs began competing in various competitions around the state. In 2011, the Marching Bulldogs received new uniforms, switching from their traditional white pants and red jacket to an all black uniform featuring a single red "B". 2014 was a big jump for the band with the show "Into the Woods" featuring music from the planets symphony. 2015 was the band's most successful year with their show "Square the Circle" with music by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. They placed in every competition including 3rd in class at the ISU competition and 7th overall in preliminaries, and won multiple awards for best color guard, visuals, and percussion. In 2016 the band tried a harder show with "the Anatomy of Sound" with music from the movies Matrix and Man of Steel.

Competitive Cheer Team: The Batavia Cheer Team has competed in ICCA and IHSA competitions since their inception in the early 2000s. Most notably qualifying for the 2012 State Championship in Bloomington, Il. The team has fluctuated between the Large All Girl and Coed divisions.

Dance Team: Over the years the Batavia Dance Team has been very successful in the TDI, IHSA, and UDA competitions. In 2013, both the JV and Varsity teams competed in the TDI Grand Championship competition. Varsity placed 1st in Pom, 2nd in lyrical and 3rd in the hip-hop category. JV placed first in both the Pom and Jazz categories and were the overall grand championship for all JV teams. In 2015 the team competed in the UDA national championship in Orlando. During the 2016 season, the teams qualified for the IHSA state competition and place 12th in the 2A category.

Music

There are approximately 500 students in the school involved in music, with 13 curricular ensembles and 8 extracurricular ensembles. This includes four concert bands, four concert orchestras, and five choral ensembles. Extracurricular groups include the two show choirs Swingsingers and Legacy, the a cappella group Chromatics, Marching Band, Troubadours, Madrigals, Jazz bands, Chamber Orchestra, pep band, and more. Each year, the school puts on a musical with a full pit orchestra. Some include 2011's "Beauty and the Beast", 2012's "9 to 5", and 2017's "Rent". Each year students of the music department participate in the IMEA state honor music groups. The importance of music to the students is nurtured through the marching band and drumline. In 2017 the highest level band, Wind Symphony, was accepted to perform at Illinois Superstate and to play at the 2018 Illinois Music Education Conference. Batavia High School was recognized as a Grammy Signature School Semifinalist in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

School layout

The school is divided into six wings, labeled A through F.
A Wing: Contains mostly specialty classrooms, such as foods rooms, and graphics arts. A wing also has some of the gyms and the lunchroom.
B Wing: Contains the library and most of the computer labs. All the administration offices and departments are located here.
C Wing: Contains all academic classrooms, along with the entire social studies, math, and foreign language departments, with some science classrooms.
D Wing: Contains the majority of the science classrooms, with the art department, and drafting department.
E Wing: Is the musical wing, containing the chorus, orchestra, and band rooms.
F Wing: Contains the field house, the new shop, auditorium, and many other gym storage rooms.
G Wing: Contains the Auditorium, the outdoor theatre, as well as The Black Box Theatre which has been used for teaching theatre classes.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Administration". Directory. Batavia Public Schools District 101. 2013. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  2. "Administration". directory. Batavia High School. 2013. Archived from the original on August 9, 2013. Retrieved Jul 31, 2013.
  3. "Batavia Sr High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  4. "Batavia". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). April 20, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  5. Illinois School Report Card
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. The Biggest Game of the Season: Batavia Bulldogs vs. Geneva Vikings Archived October 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  8. http://www.machermanntrophy.org/mike-fisher/
  9. "Ken Anderson". databasefootball.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  10. Dan Issel stats & bio Archived June 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. basketball-reference.com; accessed January 1, 2009]
  11. "Untypical Teens," Ames Daily Tribune, June 14, 1966, pg. 4.
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