Elmhurst High School was a public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

with a comprehensive intake and over 1,000 students. Elmhurst High School was a part of the Fort Wayne Community Schools school district, serving those living in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne. It received accreditation from the Indiana Department of Education and the

North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...

Closing Elmhurst High School

On March 22, 2010, a vote was taken by the FWCS School Board to accept a recommendation of the FWCS administration regarding ways to reduce the 2010 district budget by $15 million. The administration's report included the step of closing Elmhurst High School. The budget moves were required because current economic conditions reduced federal and state funds available to the school district. The closing of Elmhurst has been a highly debated topic over the past several years, and the Board, by a unanimous vote of 7-0, agreed to accept the administration's recommendation. With that action, the 2009/10 school year was the final year of operations for the school. Returning students were reallocated to other high schools in the FWCS system.

Mission

The mission of Elmhurst High School was to guarantee that all students were prepared to meet or exceed Indiana Standards by narrowing the achievement gap, by increasing the successful completion of advanced courses, and by improving student achievement.

History

Dating back to 1929, Elmhurst High School had nine principals, including three female principals. In 1979, Elmhurst High School underwent drastic renovations in order to better serve its students. The renovations were very costly and took a long time to complete but when they were finally finished, Elmhurst was equipped with an auxiliary gym and 600 seat auditorium. The auditorium was designed to double as a movie theater, with the use of a 20'x20' retractable movie screen to be installed after the construction of the auditorium. The school has also had a rich tradition of musicians. Annually, the school hosted an ISSMA Jazz Fest. Back in the era of jazz, there were many big names who came to perform at Elmhurst. Among them were:

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roo ...

, the

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Orchestra,

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

, and many others. The school also had many college bands perform there as well. Along the band room wall, you could see various posters dating back to when the tickets were on sale.

Sports and clubs

Elmhurst's athletic department consisted of more than 20 IHSAAIndiana High School Athletic Association, www.ihsaa.org
/ref> sports including the following for both boys and girls: cross-country,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, swim and dive,

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

were also offered for boys, while

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, and

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

were offered for girls. All sanctioned sports competed in the Summit Athletic Conference. In its final year, th
Elmhurst Boys' Basketball
team won the 3A Regional title. In 2010 the Elmhurst robotics team won both the state and world championships competing against students from Countries including Canada, Korea, and China. On March 7, 2009, the Elmhurst Girls' Basketball team brought home the first state championship for any team sport in the school's history, defeating Owen Valley 62-59 to win the Class 3A title. On August 21, 2009, the football team won their first game since the '04 campaign under head coach Kyle Beauchamp in their final year before shutting their doors- defeating Ft. Wayne Northrop, 21-13.

Notable alumni

* David Abbott, member of the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

* James Hardy,

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Tera Klutz Tera Klutz (born 1975/1976) is an American Certified Public Accountant who served as the auditor of Indiana. She was appointed to the position after her predecessor, Suzanne Crouch resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of Indiana in January, 201 ...

, accountant and

Indiana state auditor The Indiana auditor of state (doing business as ''"the Indiana state comptroller"'') is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Indiana. Fifty-seven individuals have occupied the office of auditor of sta ...

* June Peppas, first basewoman and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

(1948–1954) * David C. Turnley,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning photojournalist * Peter Turnley, photojournalist * David Fieldhouse business man

References

External links

Elmhurst High School Alumni Page

{{Indiana's Summit Athletic Conference Defunct schools in Indiana Schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana Educational institutions established in 1929 Educational institutions disestablished in 2010 1929 establishments in Indiana 2010 disestablishments in Indiana Demolished buildings and structures in Indiana