South Shore International College Preparatory High School (commonly known as South Shore) 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 ...

four-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the South Shore neighborhood on the Southeast Side of

Chicago, Illinois 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 ...

, United States. Opened in 1940 as South Shore High School, the magnet school is a part of 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 List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...

district.

History

The school opened in 1940 as South Shore High School at 7626 South Constance Avenue. During its first 20 years, the student body was predominantly White and consisted primarily of students living in the South Shore community. By the late 1950s, the community began to experience an increase in the population of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

residents. South Shore High School, which was built to accommodate a total of 2,000 students, by 1964 had become overcrowded. The Chicago Board of Education decided either an addition or a new school was needed to relieve the overcrowding. Plans to construct an addition to the school were announced in 1965. Construction of the addition at 75th street and Constance Avenue began in April 1966. The extension was to cost $2.5 million and was to be completed by 1967, but plans were revised several times, reaching a budget of $4.1 million. Contractor for the extension was Mercury Builders of

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

. Ground-breaking took place in 1966 and the project was completed in August 1969. The new addition opened for students on September 6, 1969.

Demographics

As of the 2021–2022 school year, 95.5% of South Shore's student body was African American, 3.3% Latino, 1.0% other and 0.2% Asian. Low-income students made up 76.5% of South Shore's student body.

Small schools (2001–2011)

Beginning in 2001, the expanded school campus, located at 7527–7627 South Constance Avenue was divided into four small specialized high schools: the School of Entrepreneurship, the School of the Arts, the School of Leadership, and the School of Technology. The small school concept continued until 2009, when the Chicago Board of Education decided to phase out the four schools; this was completed at the end of the 2010–11 school year.

School of Leadership

After the small schools were phased out, the extension building was demolished in early 2012. The remaining students were moved into the South Shore High School of Leadership, which was housed in the original campus at 7627 South Constance Avenue beginning with the 2011–2012 school year. At the same time, the district had opened a new high school at 1955 East 75th Street. The latter was a selective enrollment magnet school designed to attract students from all areas of the city. The School of Leadership on Constance Avenue was closed at the end of the 2013–2014 school year, having been replaced by the new magnet high school on 75th Street.

Other information

The school's newspaper ''The Shore Line'' won a first-place ranking in the American Scholastic Press Association annual review in 1983. The newspaper was the first to win a first-place ranking in the city of Chicago. South Shore students won first place two consecutive times in an annual essay contest sponsored by the citizen school's committee in 1981 and 1982. The school was featured in a CBS

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the Chicago's public school system in 1984.

South Shore International College Prep High School

South Shore International College Prep High School, at 1955 East 75th Street, opened for the 2011–2012 school year two blocks northeast of the original South Shore High School campus and adjacent to Rosenblum Park. South Shore International College Prep is a selective enrollment magnet school that accepts students from throughout the city of Chicago. The school uses the same team name (Tars) and colors (kelly green and royal blue) as the former South Shore High School

Academics

South Shore International College Prep High School is rated a 5 out of 10 by GreatSchools.org, a national school quality information site. GreatSchools’ Summary Rating is based on four of the school’s themed ratings: the Test Score Rating, Student or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, and Equity Rating and flags for discipline and attendance disparities at a school.

Athletics

South Shore competes in the Chicago Public League (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 F ...

(IHSA). The boys'

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 ...

team were Public League champions in 1943–1944 and 1946–1947. The girls'

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 ...

team placed first in the state in Class AA in 1980–1981. In 2014, coach Dan Novosel led the football program to a 9-0 record and an Inter-City 2 Championship. The championship was the first for the newly opened College Prep. The boys'

team placed first in 2A Sectionals in the 2021–2022 school year, while in the same year the boys'

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 ...

team was the Great Lakes League champion.

Notable alumni

* Doe Boyland – Professional baseball player *

Cynthia Plaster Caster Cynthia Dorothy Albritton (May 24, 1947 – April 21, 2022), better known by the pseudonym Cynthia Plaster Caster, was an American visual artist and self-described "recovering groupie" who gained fame for creating plaster casts of celebrities' ...

(1965) – Artist"Cynthia Plaster Caster runs for Chicago mayor"
Chicago Tribune. October 31, 2010. * Frank Donald Drake (1948) – Astronomer and astrophysicist. Co-founder of the

SETI Institute The SETI Institute is a not-for-profit research organization incorporated in 1984 whose mission is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe, and to use this knowledge to inspire and guide present and futu ...

. * Stanley Elkin – Novelist and short story writer * Larry Ellison (1962) – CEO and co-founder of

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

"High school spotlight: South Shore". ''Chicago Sun-Times''. December 19, 2007. 60. * Jake Fendley (1947) – Professional basketball player *

Carla Hayden Carla Diane Hayden (born August 10, 1952) is an American librarian who served as the 14th librarian of Congress. Hayden was both the first African American and the first woman to hold this post. Appointed in 2016, she was the first professional ...

(1969) – 14th

Librarian of Congress The librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years. The librarian of Congress also appoints and overs ...

* Trent Hubbard (1982) – Professional baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

* Marv Levy (1943) – NFL coach and member of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

* Marc May (1974) – NFL

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

(1987) *

Suze Orman Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman ( ; born June 5, 1951) is an American financial advisor, author, and podcast host. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her work as a financial advisor gained notability with ''The Suze Orman Show'', which ...

(1969) – Author,

financial advisor A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

, and television host * Karalyn Patterson (1961) – Psychologist * Reggie Smith (1990) – College basketball player * Walter Stanley (1981) – Former NFL

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

(1985–92) * Jerald Walker (1981) - Writer and professor; Guggenheim fellow, National Book Award finalist * James D. Watson (1946) – Biochemist and co-discoverer of the structure of

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

, 1962 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology James Watson Biography
The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved on January 3, 2009.

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1940 Defunct high schools in Illinois 1940 establishments in Illinois