The History of Herrick Junior High School
How did we get the name Herrick?
Great question! Our school is named after the man in the picture above - Mr. William Herrick. Mr. Herrick was a music instructor and served on the Downers Grove School Board for 30 years. Before Herrick was built, junior high school students attended Lincoln School. Where's Lincoln? It is now called The Lincoln Center - on Maple Ave.
Our Building - 4435 Middaugh Avenue
Herrick turned 60 years old in 2013. The picture above is from when Herrick was brand new in 1953. Check out the old car. As you can see from this picture, there have been several additions to our building. This picture was taken just south of our building - one or maybe even two houses down from Herrick on the east side of the street.
The following additions have been made to the original school.
• Room 105 & 106 (Mr. Siemek and Ms. Henry's Rooms)
• The LRC above 105/106
• The Entire South/East Hall (Rm. 100 - 103 & Rm. 200 - 204)
• The Cafetorium and hallway. Before this was added, students just ate lunch in the gym. The kitchen was across from the gym in what is now the SASED room.
• The Small Gym, the elevator and the elevator to get on the stage were added in the mid to late 1990s. Phones were also put in every room in the late 1990s.
• Room 104 and the room above it (Rm. 205) were built in the early 2000s. Room 205 was a computer lab but it was converted to a classroom a few years ago when laptop computers were on carts. Now every student has an IPad.
• The Band Room was added in the early 2000s - (2004?). Before the band room was built, the band practiced in what is now the Orchestra room - Rm. 218. The Orchestra used to meet where the choir currently meets - Room 219. The choir used to practice on the stage.
• The Fitness Center was created in the late 2000s. It used to be a storage center for District 58 Science Materials.
• The Outdoor classroom was created in 2013. An anonymous parent donated the money for it!
The following additions have been made to the original school.
• Room 105 & 106 (Mr. Siemek and Ms. Henry's Rooms)
• The LRC above 105/106
• The Entire South/East Hall (Rm. 100 - 103 & Rm. 200 - 204)
• The Cafetorium and hallway. Before this was added, students just ate lunch in the gym. The kitchen was across from the gym in what is now the SASED room.
• The Small Gym, the elevator and the elevator to get on the stage were added in the mid to late 1990s. Phones were also put in every room in the late 1990s.
• Room 104 and the room above it (Rm. 205) were built in the early 2000s. Room 205 was a computer lab but it was converted to a classroom a few years ago when laptop computers were on carts. Now every student has an IPad.
• The Band Room was added in the early 2000s - (2004?). Before the band room was built, the band practiced in what is now the Orchestra room - Rm. 218. The Orchestra used to meet where the choir currently meets - Room 219. The choir used to practice on the stage.
• The Fitness Center was created in the late 2000s. It used to be a storage center for District 58 Science Materials.
• The Outdoor classroom was created in 2013. An anonymous parent donated the money for it!
Herrick Junior High School Class of 1953
This is the first graduating class from Herrick Middle School. The wall behind the students is the gym wall. The band room is now located on this spot. The room on the top left is Ms. Read's office and directly under her room (to the left of this picture) is Mr. Gross's office. This picture was taken the day after graduation. If you zoom in and look closely you can see some students are holding their promotion certificates. They were very proud to be Herrick's first graduating class!
We would like to thank Mrs. Norma (Deerdorf) Plummer for the picture and the background information. In the picture, Norma is in the 2nd row - 9th from the right. Norma worked at Herrick and her children are also Herrick graduates. She retired from Herrick several years ago but is still one of Mr. Gross' dear friends.
Great Old Herrick Pictures!!
The pictures in the slideshow below were in old Herrick yearbooks. The outfits have changed but the smiles have not.
