History
Indian Prairie Community Unit School District #204 (a unit district K-12) was formed in the fall of 1972. In December 1972 a referendum was passed to build and equip a high school at a projected cost of $8.2 million. A separate issue also passed to add a swimming pool. Construction on Waubonsie Valley High School began in the spring of 1973. Tom Gibbs was hired as the first Principal. Since his tenure, Gary Elmen, Marilyn Weaver, Jim Schmid, Kristine Marchiando, and Jason Stipp have served as Principal.
In September 1975, Waubonsie Valley opened its doors for its first school year. 293 Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors attended the new high school. In addition, 7th and 8th graders were housed in the building (using the name Granger Junior High) until Hill Junior High (now Hill Middle School) opened in the Fall of 1981. Construction delays prevented students from using the gym until May 1976 and the pool until October 1976.
The school was designed as an "open" campus, with very few walls to separate classes. This quickly gave way to temporary room dividers and eventually, more permanent walls. Major construction projects over the years added three classroom wings, a field house and an auditorium, leaving just a few clues as to the original design of the building. The school was considered futuristic with a swimming pool, greenhouse, and planetarium.
During the summer of 2006, the school was renovated and various improvements were made. The atrium received a "face lift" in the form of a new style around the pillars and floor tile. In the hallways, the school was repainted with different shades of green and a wooden oak trim. The school also repaved the 12 tennis courts and rebuilt the rubber track. This renovation cost approximately $7.5 million. On December 10, 2008, parents received an automated telephone call from the school announcing that the school was on lockdown due to a bomb/gun threat. Gold campus was in lockdown mode until 10am and Green campus' lockdown was lifted at 12:10pm. Parents received automated telephone calls from the school notifying them of a bomb threat scribbled on the walls of a bathroom the day before. The lock down was initiated by claims of sightings of a student with a hand gun. As it turns out, an air gun was found on campus during a thorough school search.
Also, earlier that fall, the school announced that it would begin conducting random lockdown searches of the school. The school would be placed on a "soft lockdown" that allows teachers to continue teaching. While these lockdowns are in place, narcotics sniffing dogs will search the school.
The campus consisted of two buildings: a "Gold Campus" building (currently Gregory Fischer Middle School) for Freshmen (Grade 9). It has been converted from Francis Granger Middle School in 1993 to Waubonsie's Gold Campus in 2003 to Gregory Fischer Middle School since 2009. A "Green Campus" building (the original WVHS main building) was for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors (Grades 10-12), but now houses all four grades. During the 2000s, the Indian Prairie School District converted middle schools for both Waubonsie Valley and its sister school, Neuqua Valley High School into "Gold Campus buildings", due to high enrollment numbers and classroom overcrowding. However, Waubonsie's "Gold Campus" returned to being a middle school after the opening of Metea Valley High School in 2009. As of 2010, there were 3,189 students enrolled at Waubonsie.
Waubonsie Valley's inaugural principal was Tom Gibbs who worked from 1974-1987.
Read more about this topic: Waubonsie Valley High School
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