St. Charles East High School, Illinois - History

History

St. Charles East High School is located at 1020 Dunham Road in St. Charles, Illinois. At one time it was the only high school serving the city of St. Charles. Prior to moving to its current location in 1977, the high school was located in the middle of town at the corner of Main Street and Seventh Street, in the building that now serves as Thompson Middle School. The new St. Charles High School campus was built in the open fields to the east of Dunham Road, adjacent to the existing Norris Recreation Center and Dunham Junior High School (which educated 7th graders for the 1975-76 and 76-77 school years before being annexed into the new High School campus for the 77-78 school year). The campus change was not made without controversy - the old downtown campus was an "open" campus that allowed the student body to depart and return during the school day, while the new campus is "closed". The first month in the new school featured student protests, leaky roofs, and problems with the school's (at the time) state-of-the-art solar heating system. The first class to graduate after attending all four years at the newly built high school was the class of 1981.

In the year 2000, due to increasing population in the area, District 303 was split between two high schools, and St. Charles High School was renamed St. Charles East High School. (A new high school, "St. Charles North High School," was built on the west side of town). The first class to graduate after attending all four years at the renamed school graduated in 2004.

The Saint Charles East High School campus includes the Norris Cultural Arts Center, and the Norris Recreation Center. These facilities were established to serve not only the high school but the community as well. The Delora A. Norris Cultural Arts Center, a 1,000-seat performing arts theater and art gallery, was founded in 1978 with funding from the St. Charles Charities, which was created in 1924 by Lester and Delora Norris and Edward Baker.

During spring break in 2001, a serious black mold problem was discovered at the campus. It was believed to be the source of some student and teacher illnesses. In 2001 the building was shut down and the students remained on an extended spring break while officials struggled with the issue. For the rest of the 2001 school year, St. Charles East students shared a split-schedule with St. Charles North High School. East students attended class at the North campus during the morning, while North students went during the afternoon. During the summer of 2001 through the next school year, the school underwent an enormous renovation. For the entire 2001-2002 school year, the current students had to take classes in the adjacent Wredling Middle School building and mobile classrooms surrounding it (brought in specifically to accommodate the larger student body). Meanwhile, the Wredling Middle School students took classes in mobile classrooms parked in a field between Haines and Thompson Middle Schools. Classes resumed their normal locations and schedules the following school year (2002-2003). This event caught the attention and cameras of local and national news organizations on more than one occasion throughout the year, simply becoming known as "the mold school."

During the fall of 2009, many students came down with Swine Flu (H1N1) and other flus after attending the homecoming dance. The Monday after homecoming weekend, 611 students were sick. By Tuesday, 972 had called in sick. The staff called an emergency meeting after school and promptly decided to close the school for three days, while the school was sanitized. This caused massive attention in local and national news. To many students this was known as "Swine '09" or "Swine Break", and the majority of students have t-shirts to prove it.