Freeport High School (Illinois)

Freeport High School is a public secondary school located in Freeport, Illinois, United States. It is a part of the Freeport School District 145.

Freeport High School
Location
701 West Moseley Street Freeport , Illinois 61032 United States
Coordinates	42.2873°N 89.6288°W / 42.2873; -89.6288
Information
School type	Public secondary
School district	Freeport District 145 Schools
Principal	Sarah Hasken
Teaching staff	88.74 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9–12
Gender	Coed
Enrollment	1,155 (2023-2024)[1]
Average class size	15.7[2]
Student to teacher ratio	13.02[1]
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Orange   Black[3]
Slogan	You Can Eat Us, But You Can't Beat Us!
Athletics conference	Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10)[3]
Mascot	Pretzel
Nickname	(Lady) Pretzels[4]
Newspaper	Pretz News
Yearbook	Polaris
Website	Official school website

The district includes Freeport, Cedarville, Ridott, and Willow Lake.^[5]

Demographics

In the 2014–2015 school year, Freeport High School had a population of 55.2% white students, followed by 23.7% black students, 10.7% students of two or more races, 8.7% Hispanic students, and 1.6% of students grouped as "other" (Asian, American Indian, etc.).^[2] In the same year, 63.7% of the student body was classified as "low income".^[2]

Academics

In 2015, Freeport had an average composite ACT score of 19.3, just below the state average at 20.5. It graduated 82.5% of its senior class.^[2] Freeport has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in recent years, and, as of the 2013–2014 school year, has been on the state academic watch list for eight consecutive school years. The school has been well below the state minimum AYP target in math, reading, and graduation rate.^[6]

Activities

The following teams won their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments:^[7]

• Basketball (boys): State Champions (1914–15, 1925–26, 1950–51)
• Bowling (boys): State Champions (2007–08)
• Speech: State Champions (1940–41, 1941–42, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1955–56)
• Drama: State Champions (1940–41, 1942–43, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1955–56)
• Debate: State Champions (1949–50, 1955–56)

Notable alumni

• Dan Balz, journalist for the Washington Post
• Richard Wayne Dirksen, Fourth Organist Choirmaster of Washington National Cathedral
• Robert L. Johnson, former CEO, Chairman, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET)
• Scot McKnight, New Testament scholar
• Trisha Paytas, YouTube personality
• Jason Pearson, MLB baseball player
• Preston Pearson, played 14 years in the National Football League

Notable staff

• Adolph Rupp was the boys' basketball coach (1926–30). He left to coach at the University of Kentucky (1930–72), leading the Wildcats to four NCAA Men's National Championships in his Hall of Fame career.^[8][9]