Palatine High School, District 211 celebrate start of 150th school year

Palatine High School — the seed of Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 — celebrated the start of its 150th school year Monday morning.

Returning students gathered to form a giant numeral “150” on the football field before the band’s drum line led them all into the building.

Of course, the 48-year-old current building at 1111 N. Rohlwing Road in Palatine isn’t where it all started.

The high school was established in one room of the then-Wood Street School. It was among the first four high schools in the Chicago suburbs and the very first northwest of the city, according to the district’s records.

The first class graduated in 1877.

“It’s not just about 150 years. When you have the honor to work at Palatine High School you know how much this school means to our community,” said Principal Tony Medina. “Our school song, ‘Loyalty,’ says it all. From when kids walk through our doors until they leave us, they get that sense of pride and loyalty every single day. There is a reason our alumni want to come back and be a part of it all over again.

Palatine High School became part of District 211 when the latter formally was created in 1914.

The school’s first purpose-built home opened on Wood Street in 1928 and now is used as Palatine village hall and the Palatine Park District’s Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center — named after the first principal, Charles S. Cutting.

A pair of expansions during the 1950s tried to keep up with skyrocketing enrollment. But in 1961, William Fremd High School opened in Palatine to serve freshman and sophomores exclusively for a few years while upperclassmen attended the older school.

Palatine High School officially outgrew the Wood Street building with the 1977 opening of the current campus. A second gym was added 20 years later, with a new mathematics and foreign languages wing following in 2003.

District 211’s James B. Conant High School in Hoffman Estates opened in 1964, followed by Schaumburg High School in 1970 and Hoffman Estates High School in 1973.

Much work was done last year and over the summer to celebrate Palatine High School’s milestone and more is planned this year, Medina said.

Festivities will continue during homecoming week with an all-class reunion, neighborhood parade, royal rally, fireworks, and school tours on Sept. 20.

Medina said he is most excited about the all-class reunion.

“I have gotten so many emails asking for details so they don’t miss anything,” he said.

There also will be an unveiling of the 100th anniversary time capsule from 1975, an alumni speaker series throughout the school year, and every school sports team will wear a commemorative patch to celebrate the 150th anniversary.

Monthly all-school celebrations and an end-of-year picnic also are planned.

“Today was just the start,” Medina said. “We hope the excitement is maintained the entire school year.”