Original Research by School Decision on Comm H S Dist 99 - South High Sch
Community High School District 99's South High School is a comprehensive four-year high school located in Downers Grove, a mixed-use western Chicago suburb with walkable downtown retail and dining alongside corporate campuses and industrial parks. The school serves a student body of just over twenty-six hundred, with the enrollment distributed evenly across ninth through twelfth grade.
The student population reflects the area's suburban diversity. Just over half of students identify as white, with a substantial share identifying as Hispanic, a meaningful presence of Black students, and smaller populations of Asian, multiracial, and other students. The data available does not include free-and-reduced-price-lunch counts, so a complete picture of economic diversity is not available from the provided sources. English learner and special education population counts were also not reported.
State testing data and graduation rates were not provided, so prospective families cannot see this school's proficiency trends or four-year completion numbers from the material on hand. Without these metrics, performance cannot be assessed against peers in DuPage County or statewide. A parent exploring the school should request current academic results and outcome data directly from the district or school office.
The school is part of a district that completed a significant facility modernization in August 2021 through a bond-funded Master Facility Plan. That work added air conditioning to all classrooms, upgraded secure entrances, improved accessibility, and renovated learning spaces across both District 99 high schools. The bond carries a property tax obligation through the mid-2030s, so families moving to the area will inherit both the upgraded facilities and an ongoing annual tax levy tied to that investment.
Downers Grove itself is a mid-sized suburb with a vibrant downtown anchored by a Main Street Metra station serving about seven thousand weekday boardings. The area hosts significant employers including Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Dover Corporation, and Pepperidge Farm, alongside smaller tech and industrial firms. Housing is a mix of older mid-nineteenth-century homes near the downtown core and post-war residential neighborhoods further out, with a notably high teardown-and-rebuild rate. The median home value in the school's zip code is in the mid-five-hundred-thousands, with median rent around two thousand per month. Recent development has densified the downtown with multifamily apartments and is continuing to reshape single-family blocks with larger new construction.
The school's campus setting places it in a surrounding neighborhood rather than in the downtown core. South High School sits on Norfolk Street and serves as one anchor of the district's secondary education footprint alongside North High School. Access via the Metra station and Pace bus routes connects the area to broader Chicago job markets and entertainment, while the village itself provides local dining, parks, and civic programs centered on the library and downtown.
No data on course breadth, AP offerings, dual-credit pathways, discipline practices, attendance, staffing, or specialized programs were provided, so those dimensions cannot be characterized. A family seeking detail on academic pathways, extracurricular offerings, or school climate should visit the school's website or speak with the administration directly.
See more original research from School Decision →