Deerfield High School opened its doors to 490 students and 39 faculty members in September, 1960. Students had previously been commuting to Highland Park High School. In 1958, the Board of Education decided to build a new high school in preparation for a population increase. A $4,250,000 bond issue was approved by voters to support the building and staffing of the school to be located on an 80 acre plot of land off of Waukegan Road in Deerfield.

Board members considered four names for the new high school including Bannockburn High School, Deerfield High School, Highland Park High School West and Westfield High School. Deerfield High School was ultimately picked because a majority of the student body was from Deerfield. What’s My Name? was the title of the first school newspaper. Students held a naming contest and eventually landed on Deerprints.

In its first year, there was a freshmen and sophomore class. Three classes were in attendance the second year and all four by 1962. Enrollment peaked at Deerfield High School in the early 1970s around 2500 students.

AP United States History students created a website documenting Deerfield Village and Deerfield High School history.  The site is an ongoing project of succeeding AP United States History and American Studies classes at DHS and is updated at the end of each school year.

DHS & Local History