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Walter Payton College Preparatory High School (WPCP) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
4–year
magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
located in the
Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
neighborhood on the near-north side of
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, United States. Opened in 2000, Payton is operated by the
Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...
district. The school is named for
Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...
, African-American football player for the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...
and humanitarian. Since 2019, Payton has been ranked the No. 1 public high school in the State of Illinois, and No. 4 in the United States, by ''U.S. News & World Report''.


Background

Payton opened in 2000 by the Chicago Public Schools, The school is named for
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...
star player Walter Payton (1953–1999). In addition to the school being named for Payton, the school colors are blue and orange (the colors of the Chicago Bears) and bare his jersey number (34) throughout the identity of the school. Payton is amongst one of the city's nine selective enrollment high schools. Payton is known for its advanced academic programs provided within an international model for teaching and learning. Payton Concert Choir was one of eight United States choirs to travel to the
2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...
in Beijing.


Facilities

In May 2006, the Confucius Institute in Chicago was opened at Payton, as a partnership between Chicago Public Schools, the Office of Chinese Language Council International and Shanghai's
East China Normal University East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and originated from the St. ...
. It is the only
Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...
in the nation to be housed in a high school.


Academics

Payton has been ranked the No. 1 public high school in the State of Illinois by ''U.S. News & World Report'' since 2019. In 2015, ''Newsweek'' ranked it the top public high school in the state and No. 10 in the nation. In recent years, Payton also has been the most difficult in which to gain admission among Chicago's elite selective enrollment schools, with freshman applicants needing a minimum cutoff score of 898 out of 900 points to make the first cut for the 2020-21 school year. In 2010, the school won the Intel School of Distinction awards in the categories of Excellence in Mathematics and Star Innovator for incorporating technology into classes, collaborative lesson and course planning, and use of Japanese Lesson Study.


Demographics

As of the 2022–2023 school year, 37.6% of Payton's student body is White, 24.5% Asian, 24.4% Hispanic, 8.9% Black, and 4.6% Other. Low-income students make up 30.2% of Payton's student body. Payton has a 99% graduation rate.


Athletics

Payton competes in the
Chicago Public League The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Admini ...
(CPL) and is a member of the
Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fe ...
(IHSA). Payton varsity athletic teams are named the "Grizzlies." Payton's girls volleyball team has made three appearances in the IHSA Class 3A state finals, finishing fourth in 2009, 2011 and 2014. The girls' varsity tennis team won state championships in 2018 and has placed in cities multiple times. Payton boys' cross country team has been in the state meet twice; 2021 (placing 7th) and 2022 (placing 6th).


Other information

On January 21, 2011, President
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...
of China visited the school, where he saw the KAM and AP Chinese classes, and invited 20 faculty and students to China for the following summer. In September 2013, Chicago Mayor
Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
announced plans to build a new annex behind the original building to house more students. The annex was completed and opened by the beginning of the 2016 school year. The annex features a new gym and a
black box theater A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...
. The annex cost $17 million to build.


Controversies

In 2014, former Illinois Governor
Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chai ...
, then a first-time candidate for governor and resident of suburban
Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the secon ...
, was forced to respond to reports on the campaign trail that he had used political clout to get one of his daughters admitted to Payton six years earlier. Rauner, a venture capitalist who had a second residence in Chicago, initially denied the reports. However, it was later revealed that Rauner had called then-Chicago Public Schools CEO
Arne Duncan Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator who served as United States Secretary of Education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2008. A lifelong resident of Chicago, Du ...
to overturn his daughter's initial rejection for admission. In 2009, the Rauner Family Foundation donated $250,000 to the Payton Prep Initiative for Education, the largest donation the not-for-profit had received up to that point.


2019 yearbook incident

In May 2019, then-principal Timothy Devine ordered all of the
yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...
s for the 2018-2019 school year reprinted due to contents showing students displaying the "ok" sign with their fingers below the waist, with the intention of getting others to look. It was believed by school officials that the "ok" hand gesture was a symbol of
white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White ...
. Reprinting of all of the yearbooks costed the administration $22,485.


Racism/decline in Black enrollment

According to an October 2019 news article published by
WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and li ...
, Payton had dealt with a number of racist incidents, including Black students being called the "N-word" and bananas being thrown at them. In the same article, then-principal Timothy Devine claimed that the incidents were a natural product of students from different backgrounds being brought together. Payton’s Black enrollment dropped from 25% of the student body in the 2008–2009 school year, to 11% in the 2018–2019 school year; proportionally, this equates to a 56% decline in Black student population. Devine stepped down to resume teaching and was replaced by Melissa Resh of Lake View High School beginning in the 2020-2021 school year. By May 2021, anonymous social media posts described the environment created by Resh’s administration as "a model of white supremacy culture." Subsequent anonymous posts expressed lack of support given to the BIPOC community at Payton and Resh resigned at the end of academic year. She was replaced by Dr. Fareeda Shabazz-Anderson.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Payton Magnet schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 2000 Public high schools in Chicago Walter Payton 2000 establishments in Illinois