McHenry High School

In 2021-2022, McHenry High School enrolled 73.2% of White students, 1.2% of Black students, 23.4% of Hispanic students, 1.4% of Asian students, 0% of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 0.5% of students with two or more races.[11]

In 2021-2022, McHenry High School enrolled 550 students in 9th grade, 541 students in 10th grade, 551 students in 11th, and 541 students in 12th grade.[11]

McHenry High School offers several extracurriculars to students. Many of these clubs have an advisor, who also teach academic materials at the high school. McHenry High School names their extracurriculars and clubs as Warrior Activities.[12] The following activities are offered at McHenry High School:

The Academic Team/Scholastic Bowl club is a competitive academic club where McHenry High School students compete against other area schools under the IHSA Tournament series. Students compete in matches that involve answering questions in a variety of subjects, which include government, history, art, literature, and math.[14]

The Art Club is an extracurricular where McHenry High School students meet after a regular school day to create or discuss artistic material.[15]

Automotive Club is an automotive intensive club where McHenry High School students perform work on projects involving passenger vehicles. The Automotive Club at McHenry High School competes in two annual auto competitions.[16]

Bass Fishing Club is a competitive, IHSA sanctioned, fishing club offered to McHenry High School students.[17]

Black Student Union is a club offered at McHenry High School, where students explore and discuss African American culture and history.[18]

Book Club is a club offered at McHenry High School, where students discuss books that they are currently reading. Often, students who enjoy reading participate in the club, and discuss particular topics based from the book that they're reading.[19]

The Chess Team at McHenry High School is a competitive, ISHA sanctioned, team where students compete with other schools in chess games.[20]

Color Guard/Winter Guard is an activity offered to McHenry High School students, where they perform dances while using flags, rifles, and sabres. Students involved in Color Guard/Winter Guard also perform during football games along with the Marching Band. The Color Guard/Winter Guard also perform their own show to the high school in the winter season, typically in December.[21]

Comic Book/Manga/Fandoms Club is a club, where McHenry High School students discuss, share comic books, films, novels. Students also discuss anime and manga related content, including current events.[22]

The Connections Crew Club is a club composed of McHenry High School Upper Campus students (11th-12th grade) who meet with Sophomore students who have transitioned from the Freshman Campus. Students involved with the Connections Crew, meet with groups of Sophomore students under team building activities.[23]

Cyber Security Club is offered by the McHenry High School to students, where students learn technology skills and compete in teams to solve cyber security issues presented to them.[24]

The Drama and Thespian Club, or simply known as Drama Club, is offered to students who are interested with theatrical stage performances.[25] The program has existed at McHenry High School since 1951.[26]

The Environmental Club is a club offered at McHenry High School, where students meet to discuss environmental topics, and collect recycling containers from the Upper Campus building and the Freshman Campus building. Additionally, the Environmental Club is a sponsor of the Adopt-a-Highway program in Illinois, where they collect waste from Walkup Road, which is a road located in Crystal Lake, Illinois, south of the Upper Campus building located in McHenry, Illinois.[27]

eSports is a club offered at McHenry High School, where students are involved in competitive and non-competitive video game matches against other high schools in the area. Students compete in teams or individually and matches follow a structure similar to national professional eSports tournaments.[28]

Gender & Sexuality Alliance, also known as GSA, is a club offered at McHenry High School to students, where they discuss topics surrounding the LGBT community.[29]

Latin American Student Organization, also known as LASO, is a club offered at McHenry High School, where students meet to discuss topics surrounding Latin-American students. Students involved in LASO, also explore secondary education options and create long-term goals for themselves. LASO also provides community service events, such as orientations, bilingual parent advisory meetings to McHenry High School.[30]

The Marching Band is composed of students who enjoy playing instruments, and perform at all home football games, and select parades in the communities that McHenry High School serves.[31]

The Math Team is composed of students who enjoy Mathematics, and the team competes in the Fox Valley Conference.[32]

The McHenry Activism Club (MAC) is composed of students who enjoy to discuss, and raise awareness of local, state, and national issues.[33]

Under the direction of Spencer Hile, The McHenry High School Symphonic Band performed at the 2019 SuperState Festival at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The McHenry High School Symphonic Band was also accepted to perform at the 2020 All-State Festival in Peoria, Illinois. Both festivals featured the top high school symphonic bands in the state of Illinois. Most notably, the McHenry High School Symphonic Band was accepted as a featured band at the 2020 Music for All National Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana, as one of the nation's top 16 high school bands. Unfortunately, the 2020 All-State Festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their choir, "Surround Sound," was invited to sing for Eric Whitacre in New York City at Carnegie Hall in November 2020, however, the performance was also canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent festival acceptances were the firsts in the school's history.

The McHenry Messenger, launched in the Winter of 2019, is McHenry High School's student-run newspaper. It has received various recognitions from the Illinois Journalism Education Association (IJEA). In its first year of operation, during the school year of 2019–2020, it has received the Best Website, 3rd Best Hybrid Publication, and an All-State Journalism Team recognitions.[34]

"Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization that teaches leadership through service to others. Members of the Kiwanis International family, Key Club members build themselves as they build their schools and communities. Key Club has approximately 260,000 members in approximately 5,000 clubs. Key Club is represented in 37 countries” according to the McHenry Key Club website.[35] In the spring of 2021, officers with the Upper Campus Key Club attended the first Key Club Digital District Convention and Leadership Conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic and received several awards.[36] The McHenry Key Club received 1st place in the platinum division for the James Robert Hall Achievement Award. The club also received the RIOT Award, the Newsletter Award, and the Technology Award. The Advisor Emma Theel said she is proud of how club members adapted to ever-changing conditions during the last year. Theel said the Upper Campus club, one of the largest, was mentioned several times for the efforts to continue to serve during a global pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

The Warrior, McHenry High School's yearbook, has received several recognitions from Illinois Journalism Education Association (IJEA). In 2017, The Warrior yearbook has received first place in Division 5. Since 2018, McHenry High School is considered a division 6 school, due to an increased enrollment of students that surpassed over 2,100. In 2018, under Division 6, The Warrior Yearbook has received second place in overall general excellence.[37] However, in 2019, The Warrior only received honorable mentions.[38] In 2020, despite a turbulent end of the 2019–2020 academic school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Warrior received third place in overall excellence.

Broadcast, a journalism-heavy course launched in 2022, offers McHenry High School students opportunities to excel in journalism and social media. Students produce weekly shows known as the 'Warrior Weekly' in their dedicated Broadcast studio to provide updates to students, teachers, and community members of the school's community. In addition, they create Podcasts and collaborate with the school's newspaper, The McHenry Messenger, to create in-depth news stories that pertain to the school's community. In February 2022, the Broadcast program received recognition from Fox 32 (WFLD 32), a local television station in the Chicago Metropolitan area, for being entirely student-run.[39]

McHenry High School is a member of the Fox Valley Conference (FVC) and Illinois High School Association (IHSA).[40] McHenry High School currently offers the following athletic teams:[41]

The table below depicts the highest achievements that McHenry High School athletic teams have earned. These achievements only include achievements associated with the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) in teams, not individuals.

None

• Matt Skiba (Class of 1994) – lead singer of Alkaline Trio and Blink-182.
• Jason Faunt (Class of 1992) – actor best known for Wesley Collins on Power Rangers Time Force
• Ryan Sierakowski (Class of 2015) – professional MLS player (Portland Timbers)
• Bobby Miller (Class of 2017) – professional MLB pitcher (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Chuck Hiller (Class of 1952) – former MLB player (San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates)
• Gary Adams (Class of 1961) – founder of TaylorMade Golf Company.
• Robert Tonyan (Class of 2012) – professional American football player for the Chicago Bears.