William Howard Taft High School (Chicago)

Taft High School is a public 4–year high school located in the Norwood Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Taft serves communities on the far northwest side, specifically Norwood Park, Edison Park, Jefferson Park, Forest Glen and O'Hare. Taft is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. The school is perhaps most famous as the high school attended by Jim Jacobs, the writer of Grease. Jacobs used Taft as an inspiration in writing the musical. Taft's NJROTC unit has won a Distinguished Unit award every year since 2001.[3] Since 2014, Taft High School has been considered a "wall-to-wall" IB school as part of the International Baccalaureate foundation. Taft high school has offered the International Baccalaureate program since 2001.[4]

Taft High School
Address
6530 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue

Chicago
,
Illinois
60631

United States
Coordinates41.9844°N 87.79192°W / 41.9844; -87.79192
Information
TypePublic Secondary
Motto"Teaching Academics For Tomorrow."
Opened1939
School districtChicago Public Schools
PrincipalMark Grishaber
Grades9–12
GenderCoed
Enrollment2,500 (2019-2020)[1]
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)  Royal blue
  Silver
SongFly Like an Eagle
Athletics conferenceChicago Public League
MascotEagles
AccreditationNorth Central Association of Colleges and Schools
YearbookAerie[2]
Websitetafths.org

Athletics

Taft competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The boys baseball team were Public League champions in 1968, CPS quarter-finalists in 1985, and regional champions in 2009. The girls volleyball team were Public League champions in the 1979–80 season.[5]

In 2018, the boys varsity football team brought home its first Chicago Public League championship since 1972 with a 29-13 win over Eric Solorio Academy High School.

Notable alumni

References
  1. Chicago Public Schools: Taft
  2. 1967 Taft High School Yearbook- Chicago, Illinois
  3. Taft NJROTC
  4. "IB Diploma Programme". www.tafths.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  5. IHSA Chicago (Taft)
  6. Defiglio, Pam (19 February 2009). "Debate plays on for Chicago guitarist's induction into Taft High School's Hall of Fame: Group wants late guitarist added to school hall of fame". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 November 2009. But none of that is enough to sway some alumni of Taft High School, Kath’s alma mater, to induct the guitarist, who died in 1978, into the school’s Hall of Fame ... Alumni honored in Taft’s Hall of Fame include Jim Grabowski, who played for the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers; Jerry Krause, former Chicago Bulls general manager; actress Donna Mills; Lynn Martin, a Cabinet member in the George H.W. Bush administration; and Jim Jacobs, who based his musical “Grease” on Taft High School.
  7. Havill, Adrian (2001). The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. xix. ISBN 0-312-98629-7. Robert Philip Hanssen, a senior at Chicago's William Howard Taft High School in 1962, also saw the first James Bond movie that year.
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