We believe that honoring the past is essential for embracing the present and shaping the future. Our rich history began in 1919 when Miss Dorothy Emily Davis, a University of Chicago graduate, moved to Orland Park and Palos Townships to organize an accredited Chicago high school for students who could not attend Chicago high schools. The Orland High School was formed under the Community High School Law of 1917, which allowed the state to finance all costs except construction and equipment.
Miss Davis taught the first 13 Orland High School students in one room on the second floor of Orland Park’s former village hall. The state certified the high school in March 1920, allowing graduates to enter Chicago high schools without entrance exams and giving full credit for courses taken at Orland High School.
Miss Davis and her 28 students moved into two rooms in the new bank. The first 13 students graduated that year.
During its third year, the school moved into the old Park School. The brick portion of the structure dates from circa 1922. The gym was built in 1940 from Joliet limestone. Miss Davis and 31 kids relocated to a new five-room school designed by Mr. Pashley and built by Mr. Mahaffy of Palos Park during the third year. 13 more graduated in June 1921.
For 30 years, improvised facilities housed a rising high school population. Classes were held in the basements of the grammar school, the Lutheran Church, and two abandoned stores in Orland Park Village in the 1940s. Students had graduated from a four-year approved secondary school. On May 5, 1952, voters in Palos and Orland Townships approved a new high school by uniting High School Districts 221 and 222. A year later, voters chose the site for the new high school and approved the construction bonds.
J.S. Sandburg Carl Sandburg High School 13300 S. LaGrange Rd. The newly combined district’s first high school opened in May 1953. Carl Sandburg High School, 133rd Street and Route 45, Palos Township, opened in September 1954.
Stagg Watercolor 8015 W. 111th Street Palos Hills, IL 60465 On May 26, 1962, district voters authorized a $2,000,000 bond issue to build the district’s second high school at 111th Street and Roberts Road in Palos Hills. STAGGER HIGH SCHOOL OPENED IN 1964
Andrew Watercolor 9001 W. 171st St., Tinley Park, IL 60487 The district’s third high school debuted in 1977 for freshmen and sophomores. The first graduates from Andrew High School in 1980 At 171st Street and 90th Avenue in Tinley Park.
B.F.H. District 230 conducted Benjamin Franklin High School from 1993 to 1998, a tiny experimental school with about 150 students. Franklin was created as a staff development center, a catalyst for school restructuring, and a high school alternative. Franklin was attended by students from all district comprehensive high schools.
