Paw Paw High School (Illinois)

Paw Paw High School, or PPHS, was a public high school in Paw Paw, Illinois from 1841 until 2019. The campus was located 20 miles south of Rochelle, Illinois, and served a mixed village and rural residential community.[1][2][3]

Paw Paw High School
Address
511 Champman Street

Paw Paw
,
Lee County
,
Illinois
61353

United States
Coordinates41.6903°N 88.9778°W / 41.6903; -88.9778
Information
TypeComprehensive Public High School
Established1841
Statusclosed
Closed2019
School districtPaw Paw Community Unit School District 271
PrincipalStan Adcock
Grades9–12
Campus typeRural, fringe
Color(s)    Purple, Gold
Athletics conferenceLittle Ten
MascotBulldogs
Feeder schoolsPaw Paw Junior High School
WebsitePaw Paw Schools

History

Paw Paw High School originally ran for three years. The first graduating class was in 1842. In 1896, the school moved from a three year curriculum to four years, and therefore had no graduating class that year.[4]

In January of 1883 the frame schoolhouse burned to the ground. In January of 1897, the brick schoolhouse which replaced it in 1885 for a cost of $12,000 also burned to the ground. It was insured for $8,000, and was out of reach of the fire system.[5] In 1897, a new building was designed, to be built for a cost of $15,000.[6] The building was designed by Weary and Habu of Freeport, Illinois. The old school grounds were exchanged for a new four-acre site.[7]

In 2018 it was proposed that the high school students, and one teacher, be sent to Indian Creek High School, with whom they already shared some resources including athletics teams and Spanish classes.[8][1] Part of the attraction of Indian Creek was a significantly larger number of available course offerings.[9] The citizens of Paw Paw voted to close the high school (as of the spring of 2019) and send their children to Indian Creek, but still retained Kindergarten through 8th grade.[1]

The deactivation was for a two year period. In 2021 the district reevaluated the situation, and additionally, nearby Mendota High School invited Paw Paw to send their high school students there. Indian Creek had offered to take 60 Paw Paw students for $10,500 per student; transportation would be an additional $150,000 per year. Mendota offered to educate the students for $6,000 per year.[10][11]

A 2022 survey found that students were able to take more classes and approved of the move. The high school building was repurposed for junior high school.[1]

Academics

In 2009, 62% of Paw Paw High School students met or exceeded standards on the Prairie State Achievement Exam, an Illinois state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act. The average high school graduation rate in the period 1999–2009 was 89.1%.[12]

Athletics

Paw Paw High School competed in the Little Ten Conference and was a member school in the Illinois High School Association. Their mascot was the Bulldogs, with school colors of purple and gold. The school has no state championships on record in team athletics and activities.

After discontinuing football for 47 years, Paw Paw reinstituted the sport (8 man football) with a partial basis in 1956. The inaugural team fielded 11 players. In 1956 a full schedule was implemented, with a plan to join a conference the next year.[13]

Notable people

References
  1. "A rural Illinois high school was deactivated. A study asks those students if they're satisfied at their new school". Northern Public Radio: WNIJ and WNIU. 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  2. Medlin, Peter (2019-06-04). "A School's Final Days Before Deactivation". Northern Public Radio: WNIJ and WNIU. Northern Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-09-05. Paw Paw voters decided to deactivate their high school last November. They'll still have K-8, but the high schoolers will now be bussed to nearby Indian Creek High School. Paw Paw has been facing the same funding and enrollment struggles plaguing rural schools across the state. Their total K-12 enrollment dropped by more than 30 students in the last five years. The district currently sits at just under 200. In the meantime, Indian Creek will be adding more than 50 students.
  3. "A Northern Illinois High School Is Being 'Deactivated'". Northern Public Radio: WNIJ and WNIU. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  4. "Commencement for Paw Paw". Dixon, Illinois: Evening Telegraph. May 20, 1941. p. 7 – via newspapers.com. Commencement for Paw Paw The forty-ninth annual commencement of the Paw Paw high school will be held on Thursday May 29 at 8 P.M. from the high school auditorium. The first graduating class at Paw Paw was in 1842, accordingly 1941 should mark the semi-centennial of commencements at the school. However. during the year 1896 when the school changed from a three year high school to a four, there was no graduation.
  5. "Paw Paw schoolhouse gone". Sterling, Illinois: Evening Gazette. January 27, 1897. p. 8 – via newspaperarchive.com. The people of Paw Paw were justly proud of their handsome and commodious brick school house, erected some twelve years ago at an expense of $12,000 to take the place of the frame building which had been consumed some two years previous
  6. "none". Sterling, Illinois: Evening Gazette. May 31, 1897. p. 8.
  7. "New school house. Paw Paw changes location and will build school immediately". Sterling, Illinois: Daily Standard. May 8, 1897. p. 1. The verdict of the voters is that Paw Paw's new school building shall be erected on the picturesque four-acre knoll that Benjamin Roberts has exchanged for the old school grounds. Weary and Habu, architects of Freeport, have submitted a design for the new building, which the Board of Directors has accepted, and bids will now be taken for its erection. It will be a very imposing building, and a vast improvement over the old structure which was burned down a short time ago.
  8. "Referendum on ballot to close Paw Paw High School: Students would merge with Indian Creek". Crystal Lake, Illinois: Shaw Local News Network. October 30, 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2023. The Paw Paw school district would pay Indian Creek $10,000 per student as well as cover transportation costs, and Indian Creek would absorb one teacher.
  9. HEIMERMAN, CHRISTOPHER (August 22, 2018). "Paw Paw, Indian Creek high-schoolers could merge". Crystal Lake, Illinois: Shaw Local News Network. Retrieved 19 September 2023. Indian Creek's curriculum dwarfs that of Paw Paw High.
  10. Morris, Bonnie (August 22, 2018). "Public invited to meeting on Sunday, Aug. 26 at MHS". Mendota, Illinois: Mendota Reporter. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  11. "Mendota High to invite Paw Paw High School to join District". WGLC. August 22, 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  12. "Paw Paw High School Educational Environment". Northern Illinois University and the Illinois State Board of Education. 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  13. Bretag, Jerry (October 16, 1956). "Football back at Paw Paw". Dekalb, Illinois: Daily Chronicle. p. 14 – via newspapers.com. Nearly two years of planning became a realization last weekend to this small community of less than 600 poplation, when football equipment arrived at the local high school to be distributed to interested prep boys. Yes, for the first time in over 40 years (47 as best can be determined) Paw Paw High School will include football in its athletic program
  14. Fleming, Robben Wright (1996). Tempests into Rainbows: Managing Turbulence. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. pp. 17–19.
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