Geneva Community High School, or GHS, is 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., ...

located in

Geneva, Illinois Geneva is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the far western side of the Chicago suburbs. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 21,393. Geneva is part of a Tri-Ci ...

, a western suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is part of Geneva Community Unit School District 304.

History

The history of academics dates back to 1876 when the first Geneva High School graduating class consisted of two students. The first building in which classes were held was located at 22 South Third Street in Geneva's downtown district at the site of the current post office. The school was moved to a newly constructed, then state-of-the-art building on Peyton Street in 1923, where it remained until the late 1950s. The Peyton Street facility was converted into a middle school named after Harry Coultrap, the first superintendent of the Geneva School District. After housing the middle school until 1994 and an elementary school until 2009, it was demolished in 2013. The current GHS building was opened in 1958 and was expanded in the 1970s and early 2000s.

Academics

In 2010, Geneva had an average composite ACT score of 24.2, and graduated over 99% of its senior class. Geneva has made

Adequate Yearly Progress Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) was a measurement defined by the United States federal No Child Left Behind Act that allowed the U.S. Department of Education to determine how every public school and school district in the country was performing ...

on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test part of the

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...

. In addition, in 2010, Geneva had 106 Illinois State Scholars, which constituted 23% of the senior class. Of the 206 students taking 302 AP tests in 2010, 85% received scores of 3, 4, or 5.

Athletics

Geneva currently competes in the DuKane Conference and

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 F ...

. School colors are blue and white, and teams are stylized as the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

s, a nickname that appeared in newspapers as early as 1942, and was first used in the ''Gecohi,'' Geneva's yearbook, in 1944 (for the 1943-1944 school year). The title, ''Gecohi'' (derived from GEneva COmmunity HIgh School), was renamed the ''Viking'' in 1948. Students referred to the school as "Gecohi" as late as 1980. Geneva's traditional rival is

Batavia High School Batavia High School may refer to: * Batavia High School (Illinois) * Batavia High School (New York) * Batavia High School (Ohio) {{schooldis ...

. Batavia High School is located in Batavia, the neighboring town to the south. From 1913 through 2024, the Vikings and the Bulldogs of Batavia High School have faced off on the football field 106 times. The current record is 52-49-5, favoring Geneva. The Batavia-Geneva game is among the top twenty oldest football rivalries in the state of Illinois. The Geneva girls cross country team won the IHSA Class 3A state championship in 2008. The boys basketball team finished in fourth place in IHSA Class 4A in 2015. The girls basketball team won the IHSA Class 4A state title in 2017.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Public high schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1907 Geneva, Illinois Schools in Kane County, Illinois 1907 establishments in Illinois