Small school to big school

[colin2229]

I find it very interesting looking at playoffs from 20-30 years and seeing who teams used to be in the same class with.

For instance, Wilmo played Yorkville and Geneva in 88’ in 2A.

Huntley, Hampshire and Minooka have exploded in the past 15 years.

What district do you think will grow in similar ways over the next 5-15 years?

 

[rocketnation]

An interesting question. In my part of the state (Central Illinois), most schools, unfortunately, are losing enrollment. Some have lost enough already to go down a class. A small school about 15 minutes from where I live went to 8-man football a few years ago and another school nearby announced last week that they were cancelling this year's varsity season due to low program numbers.

Chatham Glenwood did double from about 750 students to almost 1,500 now but that happened over roughly a 25-year period starting in the late 80's. Their enrollment is now pretty consistent, and I don't see them getting much bigger.

 

[cornerrat]

An interesting question. In my part of the state (Central Illinois), most schools, unfortunately, are losing enrollment. Some have lost enough already to go down a class. A small school about 15 minutes from where I live went to 8-man football a few years ago and another school nearby announced last week that they were cancelling this year's varsity season due to low program numbers.

Chatham Glenwood did double from about 750 students to almost 1,500 now but that happened over roughly a 25-year period starting in the late 80's. Their enrollment is now pretty consistent, and I don't see them getting much bigger.

All.... Insane construction costs will slow the towns that surround the Springfield area some growth. New housing builds are down. Having said that though Chatham still has been very aggressive with population growth. Apartment complex building is happening in that town. Population in 2000 was 8,500 and at the end of 2023... 14,500.

But there is still quite a bit of wealth in Springfield and right or wrong Springfield D186 public schools reputation remains suspect. Moving while being a pain in the you know what if one has the resources can still be done. With the city having the state capitol and a thriving health care community professionals move into the area on a regular basis. And many decide to reside" next door" not in Springfield.

Growth will continue with those towns. And as I mentioned it depends how hard they want to go at getting larger. A question for the local politicians and residents. Ratsy

 

[USD24]

Back when I was in school in the late 80's Plainfield High School was a 4A school, now Plainfield has 4 schools that are all 7A & 8A.

 

[doctor_d]

I find it very interesting looking at playoffs from 20-30 years and seeing who teams used to be in the same class with.

For instance, Wilmo played Yorkville and Geneva in 88’ in 2A.

Huntley, Hampshire and Minooka have exploded in the past 15 years.

What district do you think will grow in similar ways over the next 5-15 years?

Was 3A in the 6 class system in 1988, but your point stands. Yorkville was in the old Interstate 8 (mostly the current ICE) conference until the early 90s.
Wilmington also used to play Lemont non conference week 2 for years. That stopped in the late 90s. Wilmo/Lemont were also in the same conference back in the 70s.
When I was in my teens in the early/mid 90s, we had family friends in Minooka. It was like half the size of Wilmington then.

 

[guerinfbfan]

Huntley was a 2A school in the mid 90s.

 

[Bobby Boucher 9]

Huntley was a school of 433 back in 1996. They finished the season 1-8 with their only win over Martinsville High School 13-12. Now Huntley is the 21st biggest school in Illinois just a few kids under 3000.

 

[colin2229]

These are the districts I think will continue to grow the most.

Enrollments from 1996 to now....

Burlington Central 542 - 1285
Kanland 757 -1326
Plano 553 - 766
Richmond Burton 400 -572
Rochester 520 - 754


Ill go with Kanland that will grow the most over the next several years.

My hunch is with the rising housing market, more and more families will be leaving the suburbs to the town just on the outskirts. Elburn, N. Aurora, Sugar Grove are becoming nicer and nicer.

 

[rocketnation]

Rochester's enrollment peaked when my oldest graduated in '19 at around 800 and has dropped since. It was slightly less than 700 last year and could drop to as low as 650 in a few years absent more building in the district.

Having said that, the district's first significant Apartment complex has been developed near the Intermediate School and additional units are being built now. I'm not sure yet whether there will be enough units to have much of an impact on enrollment.

 

[crusader_of_90]

Highland, Mascoutah and Columbia all seem to have hit puberty down here and are growing each year.

 

[4Afan]

Interesting topic, especially as someone from Morris, growing up in the Little 7 conference with schools like Geneva, Batavia, Plainfield, Minooka, Oswego, and Waupansee Valley. Those schools were always larger than Morris, but not to the degree in which they are now. It's crazy seeing all of those areas explode, especially places like Yorkville.

Going forward I'm not sure I know of an area that will grow exponentially over the next 20 years like those communities did in the past. Kaneland would be the only viable option in my opinion just due to the available land in that area that could be developed, but not sure it will. While people may choose to move to the outlying areas, the bigger worry is people continuing to leave Illinois all together.

 

[crazylegs777]

Back when I was in school in the late 80's Plainfield High School was a 4A school, now Plainfield has 4 schools that are all 7A & 8A.

After the Tornado it exploded but lost its charm. Lemont got huge. They tried years ago to get in Sica but were declined. Wanted Sica Central

 

[crazylegs777]

How about the opposite? CPS that used to be 4,5,6A when only 6 classes are now 3,2,1A. Lockport talked about for years having two 4 year high schools since the 80’s still waiting. We almost had Lincoln Way South in Manhattan. Bogan really has dropped & there is talk of it possibly closing

 

[greatgig13]

Western Kane and southwestern McHenry counties still have room to grow. Huntley will probably add another school in time. Hampshire and Burlington Central I see growing further. Other Fox Valley teams should stay flat as central McHenry County is leveling off. Maybe an exploding Peotone when they build the 3rd airport?

 

[crazylegs777]

Western Kane and southwestern McHenry counties still have room to grow. Huntley will probably add another school in time. Hampshire and Burlington Central I see growing further. Other Fox Valley teams should stay flat as central McHenry County is leveling off. Maybe an exploding Peotone when they build the 3rd airport?

They’ve been talking about that since late 70’s early 80’s.

 

[i011763]

How about the opposite? CPS that used to be 4,5,6A when only 6 classes are now 3,2,1A. Lockport talked about for years having two 4 year high schools since the 80’s still waiting. We almost had Lincoln Way South in Manhattan. Bogan really has dropped & there is talk of it possibly closing

CPS has imposed an moratorium on closing schools. There is at least 1 high school in CPS that has fewer that 100 kids

 

[olderbytheminute]

All.... Insane construction costs will slow the towns that surround the Springfield area some growth. New housing builds are down. Having said that though Chatham still has been very aggressive with population growth. Apartment complex building is happening in that town. Population in 2000 was 8,500 and at the end of 2023... 14,500.

But there is still quite a bit of wealth in Springfield and right or wrong Springfield D186 public schools reputation remains suspect. Moving while being a pain in the you know what if one has the resources can still be done. With the city having the state capitol and a thriving health care community professionals move into the area on a regular basis. And many decide to reside" next door" not in Springfield.

Growth will continue with those towns. And as I mentioned it depends how hard they want to go at getting larger. A question for the local politicians and residents. Ratsy

In the 1975 season Warren High competed in class 3A in a 5-class tournament.
49 years later and blue devils are one of the biggest schools in the state and that is without any sort of merging of schools of any kind.

 

[olderbytheminute]

In the 1975 season Warren High competed in class 3A in a 5-class tournament.
49 years later and blue devils are one of the biggest schools in the state and that is without any sort of merging of schools of any kind.

Hampshire won the 1a state title in 1976 an 1980 and their 2024 enrollment is 1,850.
It was over 40 years ago but I think there was a controversy involving hampshire’s 1980 state final win.
I think the coach’s kid was a star rb and the defrnse obviously would key on the kid. So I think at some point in the game the star rb swspped jerseys with the team’s other starting rb so that the opposing defense would key on the wrong rb.
Not positive about that anymore because I m getting Olderbytheminute but perhaps some longtime Hampshire fan can confirm this is make it clear that my memory is fading fast.

 

[olderbytheminute]

Hampshire won the 1a state title in 1976 an 1980 and their 2024 enrollment is 1,850.
It was over 40 years ago but I think there was a controversy involving hampshire’s 1980 state final win.
I think the coach’s kid was a star rb and the defrnse obviously would key on the kid. So I think at some point in the game the star rb swspped jerseys with the team’s other starting rb so that the opposing defense would key on the wrong rb.
Not positive about that anymore because I m getting Olderbytheminute but perhaps some longtime Hampshire fan can confirm this is make it clear that my memory is fading fast.

In 1980, Homonegah (near Rockford) played 2a in the 5-class playoffs.
This year, the Indians’ ( kept the nickname) have an enrollment of 1,911 without any school consolidation.

 

[crazylegs777]

In 1980, Homonegah (near Rockford) played 2a in the 5-class playoffs.
This year, the Indians’ ( kept the nickname) have an enrollment of 1,911 without any school consolidation.

1980 started 6 classes

 

[PowerI66]

Western Kane and southwestern McHenry counties still have room to grow. Huntley will probably add another school in time. Hampshire and Burlington Central I see growing further. Other Fox Valley teams should stay flat as central McHenry County is leveling off. Maybe an exploding Peotone when they build the 3rd airport?

Burlington should be building one right now, but voters keep blocking it