Even 90 years ago, Northbrook High students faced unsettled times

It is both an anniversary worth remembering and a historic reminder worth noting.

Ninety years ago this fall, Northbrook High School began a relatively short 22-year existence that included just 14 years as a four-year high school. Many of those 22 years came during two of the most challenging times in our nation's history.

So, more than marking 90 years, Northbrook High School also provides a chance to realize that uncertainty has been a part of life for students, teachers and parents for a long time. Though this year's start to a new school year has been especially difficult and unsettling in the midst of a pandemic, in some ways the link between schools and stressful times is nothing new.

Before 1930, there was no high school in Northfield Township. After eighth grade, most graduates went to Deerfield-Shields in Highland Park, New Trier in Winnetka, or Carl Schurz in Chicago. The township paid tuition to the high school of the student's choice.

In 1928, when tuition increases were announced for Deerfield-Shields and New Trier, the Northbrook School District 28 board decided to start a two-year high school in the same building as the elementary school - Northbrook School, located on Waukegan Road just north of Shermer Road. The building later was named Crestwood School, and during the 1980s was transformed into Crestwood Place senior housing.

The two-year high school was set to open in September 1930 - the year after the start of the Great Depression that lasted into the late 1930s. On Northbrook High School's first day came a big surprise as seven students showed up who were to be juniors.

According to Northbrook, Illinois: The Fabric of Our History": "That evening the school board met and decided to make it a three-year high school." The quick ruling called for some quick changes, though would-be seniors still had to find a neighboring high school to attend.

In September 1938, nearing the eve of World War II, Northbrook High School became a four-year school.

It is interesting to note that 1938 also was the first year for football at Northbrook High School. Coached by L.R. Mackey and assisted by Ray Etherton, the team finished 4-7 while playing in the Northwest Conference. Practice took place between the school and the tennis courts just north of Milton Avenue. Because this area was not big enough for a 100-yard field, the team played its games in a prairie on the south side of Chapel Court between Waukegan Road and Church Street; present-day Marcee Lane would have encircled the field.

With Northbrook's population only 1,193 in 1930 and less than 100 more (1,285) in 1940, this high school arrangement might have gone on for a while even with the constant pressures of life during United States involvement (1941-45) in World War II. But then came the amazing postwar boom that saw the Village population more than double to 3,348 in 1950 and soar to an estimated 8,148 by 1955.

Discussions regarding elementary school districts had started as early as 1946 as school populations of all Northfield Township villages began to increase dramatically. It became clear that Northbrook High School - despite a sizable addition built in the late 1930s by the Depression-era Public Works Administration (PWA) - could not accommodate any more students either. Many from Northbrook, Glenview and Northfield already were attending other high schools including New Trier, Highland Park, Evanston, Niles and Maine as tuition students.

So, on April 12, 1947, Northfield Township residents voted overwhelmingly to form a new high school district.

Things did not go smoothly after that, however, and following legal challenges that lasted for several years mostly regarding a site, groundbreaking for Glenbrook High School finally took place on June 1, 1952.

Five days later, the last class graduated from crowded Northbrook High School. Since Glenbrook did not open until Sept. 8, 1953, that left Village high school students with one more year - the school year of 1952-53 - to find places to attend. During that year, 596 Northfield Township students went to 10 different high schools including 212 at Palatine, 200 at Niles, and 138 at New Trier.

Yet another stressful time indeed.

Northbrook High School officially closed on June 6, 1952. During 22 school years since 1930, 1,436 students had attended and 565 had graduated. After 14 years as a four-year high school, the senior class of 1952 was the largest graduating class: 54.

Combining a high school and elementary school in the same building always was a challenge for Northbrook High School and meant some local students still had to attend other high schools. As if the uncertainty of living through the Great Depression and World War II were not enough, the complex legal battles surrounding the building of Glenbrook High School extended Northbrook's education challenges even more. In addition to all the high school issues, construction of new elementary schools in the Village eventually was followed by the contested closings of some of those same schools years later due to declining enrollments.

What it all adds up to is that plenty of school years can be described as challenging times for Northbrook families. That was the case for many of the students who attended Northbrook High School, which took its place in Village history when it opened 90 years ago this fall.