Batavia High School (Illinois)

The school's biggest rival is Geneva High School, which is located in Geneva, a town directly to the north of Batavia. From 1913 to 2023, (with the exceptions of the years 1914, 1915, and 1918, and then in 1934, 1935, and 1936, when Batavia did not field a football team, as well as in 1996 when the two teams were in different divisions of their conference, and most recently in the year 2020 when the game was rescheduled for April 2, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic)[8] the Geneva Vikings and the Batavia Bulldogs have faced off on the football field 105 times. The current record as of 2023 is 51–49–5, favoring Geneva. The Batavia–Geneva game is among the twenty-oldest football rivalries in the state of Illinois.[9]

Batavia's first team dates to 1905–06. Batavia won its only state championship in 1912. Former Bulldogs hoopsters include Ken Anderson, Dan Issel, Dean Anderson, the late TNT sideline announcer, Craig Sager, and the late John Mauer.

Batavia competes in IHSA competition in both boys and girls soccer. Batavia soccer alumni include 1989 Collegiate Champion Mike Fisher.[10]

The 2011 season, the Bulldogs went 9–0 (first in school history). In 2006, the Batavia Varsity Football Team played in the Class 6A State Championship game at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium against Normal Community High School. They took second place.[11] In 2013, the Bulldogs won the Class 6A State Championship game 34–14 over Richards High School of Oak Lawn.[12] In 2017, the Bulldogs won the Class 7A State Championship game in Northern Illinois University' Huskie Stadium, beating Lake Zurich High School 20–14 in overtime.[13]

In 2009, The Marching Bulldogs began competing in various competitions around the state. In 2011, the Marching Bulldogs received new uniforms, switching from their traditional white pants and red jacket to an all-black uniform featuring a single red "B". In 2015, the band performed the show "Square the Circle" with music by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. They placed in every competition including 3rd in class at the Illinois State competition and 7th overall in preliminaries and won multiple awards for best color guard, visuals, and percussion. In 2022, the band performed the show "When the Forest Calls" and placed 3rd overall for their class and won caption awards in all competitions they attended. The Marching Bulldogs made it to the Illinois State competition finals for the first time in school history placing 3rd in class 4A and placing 15th overall in the finals.[14] [15] In 2023, the band performed the show entitled "The Crow" based on Swan Lake. The Marching Bulldogs placed 1st or 2nd in their class at all competitions they attended as well as making it to Illinois State competition finals for the second time in school history placing 2nd place in class 4A and 11th place in finals.[16]

The Batavia Cheer Team has competed in ICCA and IHSA competitions since their inception in the early 2000s. They qualified for the 2012 State Championship in Bloomington, Il. The team has fluctuated between the Large All Girl and Coed divisions.

In 2013, both the JV and Varsity teams competed in the TDI Grand Championship competition. Varsity placed 1st in Pom, 2nd in lyrical and 3rd in the hip-hop category. JV placed first in both the Pom and Jazz categories and were the overall grand championship for all JV teams. In 2015 the team competed in the UDA national championship in Orlando.

On November 26, 2019, a BHS student was arrested and charged with 14 crimes, including attempted first-degree murder and terrorism, for allegedly plotting to bomb the school.[17]

The FBI was tipped off on the case by a science supplies store on "suspicious purchases."[18] With local authorities, they conducted a search of the student's home and discovered numerous chemicals, compounds, and laboratory equipment to make bombs.[19] In his notebook, he allegedly planned a "Dies irae," latin for "Day of Wrath," at BHS in which he would "detonate bombs in the high school’s restrooms, throw molotov cocktails and a hand grenade down hallways and die in a suicide," according to prosecutors.[17]

The student was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.[17] An FBI social media check on him found "suspicious accounts that were suspected to be related to anti-Semitism/Nazi/Hitler."[18]

The student's case was transferred to adult court and he was detained for months[18] before pleading guilty. As part of the plea deal, he avoided potentially decades in prison but agreed to serve four years of probation and mental health treatment in a residency program.[19]

On October 25, 2022, a filmed video of a student of Batavia High School being restrained in the school's cafeteria by now-former staff member Joe A. Cortez went viral among students. Local Chicago news covered the story, and a school investigation followed suit.[20][21] The staff member in question later quit many months after due to unrelated circumstances.