The arts The school sponsors several organizations related to studying or performing in the arts. On October 31, 1907, the school's orchestra was founded. While more common today, Oak Park was one of the first schools to offer credit toward graduation based on student performance in the orchestra. Among the school's music and song groups are a
gospel choir, two jazz bands, a jazz combo, a
marching band &
color guard, and a
pep band. The school also has three choirs during the school day: a
Treble Choir, a
Chorale, and an
A Cappella Choir. The school also has three small audition-only student-run groups, which include 5–6 members each. These are Take 5 (boys only), Six Chicks (girls only), and No Strings (girls only). There are also medium-sized groups that are school-sponsored, a
Madrigals group, and a show choir.
Activities and clubs OPRF offers over 60 clubs and activities ranging from athletic and artistic to competitive academic, cultural, and social awareness. Among the clubs which are affiliates or chapters of notable national organizations are
ASPIRA,
Best Buddies,
Business Professionals of America,
Cum Laude Society, and
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). The following non-athletic teams have won their respective IHSA-sponsored state competition or tournament: •
Chess: 1984–85 • Debate: 1982–83, 1983–84
Athletics OPRF competes in the
West Suburban Conference. The school is also a member of the
Illinois High School Association (IHSA), which governs most sports and competitive activities. The school's teams are stylized as the
Huskies. The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in: basketball
cross country, soccer, swimming and
diving, tennis,
track and field, volleyball, and
water polo. Young men may compete in baseball, golf,
football, and
wrestling, while women may compete in badminton,
cheerleading, gymnastics, and
softball. By school policy, athletes must maintain a "D" average (1.0
GPA) to compete and practice. In the absence of regularly scheduled interscholastic meets, the Cook County High School Athletic Union hosted an annual field day which would involve top athletes from the county schools. From 1900 to 1913, Oak Park was a member of the Cook County League. In 1913, the schools outside of Chicago were expelled, and formed the
Suburban League, which would eventually splinter off into several smaller leagues, one of which was the West Suburban Conference. Before this was made illegal by the IHSA, Oak Park, on at least one occasion, played games against college teams, such as a baseball game on April 4, 1900, when Oak Park lost to
Northwestern University (then known as the Purple), 1–27. In 1927, the school constructed a 219 ft x 128 ft (67 m x 39 m)
fieldhouse at a cost of $750,000. It contained four inside gymnasiums, two swimming pools, an indoor track, and seating for 1,000 people. The facility helped Oak Park build a champion track program and helped other area schools promote indoor track and field as a sport. Through the end of the 2008–09 school year, the boys track & field program holds state records for state championships, top 3 finishes, and top ten finishes. Starting in 1930, the school hosted the "Oak Park Relays", a track & field competition that grew into the largest in the Midwest, with nearly 1,500 athletes from 63 school competing in 1960. In 1963, the field was 1,340 athletes from 77 schools, and was now the largest high school indoor track meet in the United States. By 1964, the field rose to over 1,900 athletes from 95 schools. Despite the school's successes in track & field, the school did not have an outdoor track, and by 1998, the indoor cinder track was no longer in competitive condition. The school entered into a partnership with
Fenwick High School and
Concordia University to construct a new outdoor track on the campus of the university. While water polo would not be sponsored by the IHSA until 2002, Oak Park High School sponsored a team at least as early 1901, playing a match against the Armour Institute (later renamed the
Illinois Institute of Technology). In 1905, in the wake of a student killed in a football game, Oak Park's (and several other schools') school board voted to cancel the remainder of the season and ban football from the school. In 1907, football was restored in Cook County, however Oak Park refused to rejoin the league. Instead, Oak Park competed as an independent team. From 1904 to 1906, Danny Roberts was the state champion among the roughly 300 girls' teams in the state. In 1907, the Illinois State High School Athletic Association (previous name of the IHSA), banned all girls from participating in inter-school basketball because "roughness is not foreign to the game, and that the exercise in public is immodest and not altogether ladylike." Oak Park was thus denied a fourth state title. OPRF was, with
DePaul University, one of two sites for men's and women basketball games during the
1959 Pan American Games. In 1961, the pool at OPRF was used for the annual Canadian-American Invitational swim meet. Among those competing were Tom Stock,
Ted Stickles, and
Joan Spillane. ==Notable alumni==