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Oak Lawn Community High School
Oak Lawn Community High School
Address
	9400 Southwest Highway; Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453; United States
Coordinates	41°43′18″N 87°46′04″W / 41.7216°N 87.7677°W
Information
School type	Public Secondary
Opened	1952
School district	Oak Lawn Comm. HS 229
Superintendent	Dr. Shahe Bagdasarian
Principal	Dr. Lauren May
Teaching staff	102.59 (FTE)
Grades	9–12
Gender	coed
Enrollment	1,815 (2020–21)
• Grade 9	437 students
• Grade 10	444 students
• Grade 11	449 students
• Grade 12	485 students
Average class size	24
Student to teacher ratio	17.77
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Kelly Green; White
Athletics conference	South Suburban Conference
Mascot	Sparty the Spartan
Nickname	Spartans
Newspaper	Spartanite
Yearbook	Shield
Website	http://www.olchs.org

Oak Lawn Community High School, is a public four-year high school in Oak Lawn, Illinois, in the Chicago metropolitan area. The name "Spartans" and the colors Kelly Green and White were chosen by a committee in tribute to the Michigan State University Spartans, who won the Rose Bowl in 1954.

The school, as a part of Oak Lawn Community High School District 229, serves sections of Oak Lawn, Bridgeview, Chicago Ridge, and Hometown.^[6]

Academics

In 2009, OLCHS had an average composite ACT score of 20.2, and graduated 91.6% of its senior class.^[3] The school has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, which is the state assessment used to fulfill mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.^[3] Overall, the school failed to meet minimum standards in reading and mathematics, in addition to having two student subgroups fail to meet expectations in reading, and one subgroup fail to meet expectations in mathematics.^[3]

Athletics and Clubs

Oak Lawn competes in the South Suburban Conference (SSC) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA); the organization which governs most sports and competitive activities for high schools in the state. Teams are stylized as the Spartans.

The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in basketball, bowling, cross country, soccer, swimming & diving, track & field, volleyball, speech, and theater.^[7] Young men may compete in baseball, football, and wrestling, while young women may compete in badminton, cheerleading, golf, softball, and tennis.^[7] There is also a coed bass fishing team.^[7] While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors a poms team for young women.^[7]

The following teams have won or placed top four at their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament or meet:^[8]

Basketball (Boys): 2nd Place (1970–71)^[9]
Badminton (Girls): 2nd Place (1976–77)^[10]
Drama: State Champions (2005–06, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2020–21); 2nd Place (1958–59, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2016–17); 3rd Place (2006–07, 2015–16, 2018–19); 4th Place (2017–18)^[11]
Group Interpretation: State Champions (2003–04, 2007—08, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018—2019, 2020–21); 3rd Place (2005–06); 4th Place (2002—03, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2021–22)^[11]
Speech: State Champions (2009–10); 2nd Place (2011–12, 2022–23); 3rd Place (1996–97, 1998–99, 2001–02) 4th Place (1999–00, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2015–16)^[12]
Volleyball (Boys): State Champions (1993–94); 4th Place (1992–93)^[13]
Volleyball (Girls): 2nd Place (1976–77)^[14]
Wrestling (Boys): 2nd Place (1958–59, 1973–74)^[15]

The Oak Lawn Community High School Spartans currently play their home games at Napleton Field.

Notable alumni

Benn Jordan, musician known as "The Flashbulb".
C. J. Kupec, former basketball player who played for the University of Michigan and professionally in the NBA (1975–78); he was honored as one of "100 Legends" of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament.^[16]^[17]
Steve "Fuzz" Kmak, former bassist for the heavy metal band Disturbed
Rob Mackowiak, Major League Baseball player who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, and Washington Nationals.^[18]
Tim Purpura, former general manager of the baseball team Houston Astros (2004–07).^[19]
William A. Reiners, ecologist^[20]
Numayr Sweis, former amateur wrestler known as "Traffic Jam Sweis". He was inducted into the 2023 First Bank^[21] Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Dave Wills, sportscaster who the radio voice of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays from 2005 until his death in 2023.^[22]
Peter Crombie, actor
Jeff Rowe, Director The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Mary "Kitty" Menendez was Miss Oak Lawn 1962 and also the victim and mother of notorious brothers and killers Erik and Lyle Menendez, whose crimes were highly publicized in 1989.

Notable faculty

Edward Maloney, Illinois state senator (2003–2013).^[23]

References

^ ^a ^b "District/School Administrators". directory. Oak Lawn Community High School District 229. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Oak Lawn Comm High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Illinois District Report Card" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Oak Lawn (Community)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). November 17, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Activities". directory. Oak Lawn Community High School District 229. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
^ "District Boundaries." Oak Lawn Community High School District 229. Retrieved on January 18, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Athletic Teams". directory. Oak Lawn Community High School District 229. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
^ "School Directory | IHSA".
^ "Records & History".
^ "Records & History".
^ ^a ^b "Records & History".
^ "Records & History".
^ "Records & History".
^ "Records & History".
^ "Records & History".
^ IHSA Announces 100 Legends of Boys Basketball Tournament; 12 April 2006; accessed 1 January 2009
^ C.J. Kupec stats & bio; basketball-reference.com; accessed 1 January 2009
^ Vorva, Jeff (December 9, 2005). "Baseball's Winter Meetings". Beacon News. Aurora, Illinois, USA. Retrieved November 18, 2009. Thursday, the (White) Sox acquired Mackowiak, who attended Oak Lawn High School and South Suburban College, from the Pittsburgh Pirates for relief pitcher Damaso Marte.
^ "Timothy G. Purpura – Alumni Hall of Fame". biographic sketch. Oak Lawn Community High School District 229. 2005. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
^ "William A. Reiners – Alumni Hall of Fame". biographic sketch. Oak Lawn Community High School District 229. 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
^ "Home". www.first.bank. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
^ "EC alum, Dave Wills, looking forward to ninth season behind Tampa Bay microphone". The Leader. March 3, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
^ "SENATOR EDWARD D. MALONEY NEWS". Illinois State Senate Democrats. November 16, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009. His professional experience includes being an assistant principal and dean of faculty at Brother Rice High School in Chicago ... and a teacher, counselor and administrator at Oak Lawn Community High School.