William Howard Taft High School (Chicago)

Taft High School
Taft High School
Address
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap
	6530 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue; Chicago, Illinois 60631; United States
Coordinates	41°59′04″N 87°47′31″W / 41.9844°N 87.79192°WCoordinates: 41°59′04″N 87°47′31″W / 41.9844°N 87.79192°W
Information
Type	Public Secondary
Motto	"Teaching Academics For Tomorrow."
Opened	1939
School district	Chicago Public Schools
Principal	Mark Grishaber
Grades	7–12[1]
Gender	Coed
Enrollment	3.398 (2020-2021)[2]
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Royal blue; Silver
Song	Fly Like an Eagle
Athletics conference	Chicago Public League
Mascot	Eagles
Accreditation	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Yearbook	Aerie
Website	tafthighschool.org

Taft High School is a public 4–year high school located in the Norwood Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Taft serves communities on the far northwest side, specifically Norwood Park, Edison Park, Jefferson Park, Forest Glen and O'Hare. Taft is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. The school is perhaps most famous as the high school attended by Jim Jacobs, the writer of Grease. Jacobs used Taft as an inspiration in writing the musical. Taft's NJROTC unit has won a Distinguished Unit award every year since 2001.^[2] Since 2014, Taft High School has been considered a "wall-to-wall" IB school as part of the International Baccalaureate foundation. Taft high school has offered the International Baccalaureate program since 2001.^[3]

Athletics[]

Taft competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The boys baseball team were Public League champions in 1968, CPS quarter-finalists in 1985, and regional champions in 2009. The girls volleyball team were Public League champions in the 1979–80 season.^[4]

In 2018, the boys varsity football team brought home its first Chicago Public League championship since 1972 with a 29-13 win over Eric Solorio Academy High School.

The wrestling team has won three consecutive Chicago Public League Championships. (2018,2019,2020.)

Notable alumni[]

Jim Grabowski is a former NFL running back. He was selected in the first round of the 1966 American Football League Draft by the Miami Dolphins and the first round of the 1966 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He played in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II.^[5]
Robert Hanssen is a former FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.^[6]
Ken Henry, U.S. Olympic gold medalist in speed skating, 1952 Oslo. At the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, Henry was chosen to light the final torch at the opening ceremony.
Jim Jacobs is the co-writer of the musical Grease, parts of which were based on his high school experiences at Taft.^[5]
Terry Kath was a guitarist and co-founder of the band Chicago.^[5]
Jerry Krause is the former general manager of the Chicago Bulls (1985–2003) whose teams won six NBA championships.^[5]
Lynn Morley Martin is a former congresswoman who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor (1991–93).^[5]
Donna Mills, class of 1958, is an actress whose best known role was as Abby on the television series Knots Landing.^[5]
Howard Moore is the former basketball head coach for the University of Illinois at Chicago (2010–15).
Joseph A. Tunzi is a Chicago based author (Class of 1971).

References[]

^ 1967 Taft High School Yearbook- Chicago, Illinois
^ Taft NJROTC
^ "IB Diploma Programme". www.tafths.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
^ IHSA Chicago (Taft)
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Defiglio, Pam (19 February 2009). "Debate plays on for Chicago guitarist's induction into Taft High School's Hall of Fame: Group wants late guitarist added to school hall of fame". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 November 2009. But none of that is enough to sway some alumni of Taft High School, Kath’s alma mater, to induct the guitarist, who died in 1978, into the school’s Hall of Fame ... Alumni honored in Taft’s Hall of Fame include Jim Grabowski, who played for the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers; Jerry Krause, former Chicago Bulls general manager; actress Donna Mills; Lynn Martin, a Cabinet member in the George H.W. Bush administration; and Jim Jacobs, who based his musical “Grease” on Taft High School.
^ Havill, Adrian (2001). The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. xix. ISBN 0-312-98629-7. Robert Philip Hanssen, a senior at Chicago's William Howard Taft High School in 1962, also saw the first James Bond movie that year.

External links[]

Official website

[1] 1967 Taft High School Yearbook- Chicago, Illinois

[2] Taft NJROTC

[3] "IB Diploma Programme". www.tafths.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.

[4] IHSA Chicago (Taft)

[Guitar_article-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Defiglio, Pam (19 February 2009). "Debate plays on for Chicago guitarist's induction into Taft High School's Hall of Fame: Group wants late guitarist added to school hall of fame". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 November 2009. But none of that is enough to sway some alumni of Taft High School, Kath’s alma mater, to induct the guitarist, who died in 1978, into the school’s Hall of Fame ... Alumni honored in Taft’s Hall of Fame include Jim Grabowski, who played for the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers; Jerry Krause, former Chicago Bulls general manager; actress Donna Mills; Lynn Martin, a Cabinet member in the George H.W. Bush administration; and Jim Jacobs, who based his musical “Grease” on Taft High School.

[6] Havill, Adrian (2001). The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. xix. ISBN 0-312-98629-7. Robert Philip Hanssen, a senior at Chicago's William Howard Taft High School in 1962, also saw the first James Bond movie that year.

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[6]

show v t Chicago Public Schools (CPS)
List of schools in Chicago Public Schools
K–12 schools	Ogden International School (K–8 zoned, high school unzoned)
7–12 schools	(magnet) Harlan (9–12 zoned, 7–8 unzoned) Kelvyn Park (7–12 zoned) Kenwood (9–12 zoned, 7–8 unzoned) Lane Tech (alternative) Lindblom Math & Science (alternative) Morgan Park (9–12 zoned, 7–8 unzoned)
Attendance area high schools	Amundsen Austin Back of the Yards Bogan Bowen Chicago Vocational (9–11 zoned) Clemente Corliss Curie (9–10 zoned) Dyett Farragut Fenger Foreman Gage Park Hancock (attendance zone phasing out) Harper Hirsch Hope Hubbard Hyde Park Juarez Julian Kelly Kennedy Lake View Lincoln Park Manley Marshall Mather Orr Phillips Richards Roosevelt Schurz Senn Steinmetz Sullivan Taft Tilden Washington Wells
Alternative and magnet high schools	Agricultural Sciences Brooks College Prep Clark Magnet Crane Medical Prep DeVry Advantage Dunbar Vocational Jones College Prep King College Prep Northside College Prep Payton College Prep Prosser Career Academy Simeon Career Academy South Shore Int'l College Preparatory Uplift Community High School Von Steuben Metro Science Westinghouse College Prep Young Magnet
Contract high schools	Chicago High School for the Arts Chicago Technology Academy
Charter high schools affiliated with CPS	Chicago International Charter School Chicago Math and Science Academy CICS Northtown Academy Noble Network Perspectives Urban Prep Young Women's Leadership Youth Connection Latino Youth West Town Academy
Military academies	Carver Military Academy Chicago Military Academy Phoenix Military Academy Rickover Naval Academy
Attendance area K–8/PK–8 schools	Bell Clinton Arthur Dixon Nettelhorst Pritzker Sutherland
Alternative and magnet K–8/PK–8 schools	Inter-American Magnet School Lenart Regional Gifted Center
Middle schools	Phoebe A. Hearst Fine Arts Magnet School
Special education schools	Vaughn
Former high schools	Calumet Chicago High Chicago Talent Cooley DuSable Englewood Tech Flower Vocational Harrison Tech Las Casas Occupational McKinley Near North Robeson
Former 7–9 middle schools	Moses Montefiore Academy
Former K–8/elem. schools	Edward Jenner John Lothrop Motley Elizabeth Peabody
Works	The Curators of Dixon School
Other	2019 strike CEO/superintendent Chicago Board of Education Chicago Teachers Federation Chicago Teachers Union Distance education in 1937 Renaissance 2010
This template should only include schools controlled by and/or affiliated with CPS. If a charter school is still in operation but no longer affiliated with CPS, list as a former school.

show v t William Howard Taft
10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930) 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) 3rd Provisional Governor of Cuba (1904) 42nd United States Secretary of War (1904–1908) Governor-General of the Philippines (1901–1904) 6th Solicitor General of the United States (1890–1892)
Presidency	1909 inauguration Dollar diplomacy Income Tax amendment Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act Mann–Elkins Act Defense Secrets Act of 1911 Commission on Economy and Efficiency U.S. occupation of Nicaragua United States Chamber of Commerce Ceremonial first pitch State of the Union Address 1912 Cabinet Judicial appointments Supreme Court First Oval Office
Chief Justice, Supreme Court	Supreme Court career Judiciary Act of 1925 Creation of the Supreme Court Building Taft Court cases
Other actions	Taft Commission Insular Government of the Philippine Islands Philippines Civil Governor, 1901–1904 Taft–Katsura agreement 1906–1909 Occupation of Cuba League to Enforce Peace National War Labor Board
Life and legacy	Early life Birthplace, home, and historic site Woodbury Point Taft Bridge Bibliography U.S. Postage stamps Taft, Montana High school (New York City Chicago Los Angeles San Antonio)
Elections	1908 Republican National Convention 1908 U.S. presidential election 1912 Republican National Convention 1912 U.S. presidential election
Family	Helen Herron Taft (wife) Robert Alphonso Taft (son) Helen Taft Manning (daughter) Charles Phelps Taft II (son) William Howard Taft III (grandson) Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. (grandson) Seth Taft (grandson) Alphonso Taft (father) Louise Taft (mother) Charles Phelps Taft (brother) Henry Waters Taft (brother) Horace Dutton Taft (brother) Peter Rawson Taft (paternal grandfather)
Related	Progressive Era Pauline Wayne (cow) Backstairs at the White House (1979 miniseries)
← Theodore Roosevelt Woodrow Wilson → Category

William Howard Taft High School (Chicago)

Contents

Athletics[]

Notable alumni[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

Taft High School
Address
Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap
6530 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue Chicago , Illinois 60631 United States
Coordinates	41°59′04″N 87°47′31″W / 41.9844°N 87.79192°W / 41.9844; -87.79192Coordinates: 41°59′04″N 87°47′31″W / 41.9844°N 87.79192°W / 41.9844; -87.79192
Information
Type	Public Secondary
Motto	"Teaching Academics For Tomorrow."
Opened	1939
School district	Chicago Public Schools
Principal	Mark Grishaber
Grades	7–12 [1]
Gender	Coed
Enrollment	3.398 (2020-2021)[2]
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Royal blue Silver
Song	Fly Like an Eagle
Athletics conference	Chicago Public League
Mascot	Eagles
Accreditation	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Yearbook	Aerie^[1]
Website	tafthighschool.org