Thomas Jefferson High School (Rockford, Illinois)

Thomas Jefferson High School (commonly referred to as Jefferson High School, Rockford Jefferson, or JHS) is a public coed four-year high school, in Rockford, Illinois, United States. The school serves the city of Rockford and the neighboring villages of Cherry Valley, Illinois and New Milford, Illinois. The school is named after the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson High School
Address
4145 Samuelson Road Rockford , Illinois 61109 United States
Coordinates	42.2071°N 89.0378°W / 42.2071; -89.0378
Information
School type	Public Secondary
Motto	Strive to be Respectful, Responsible, and Safe.
Established	1969
School district	Rockford Public School District 205[1]
Superintendent	Ehren Robert Jarrett[2]
CEEB code	143712[3]
Principal	Donald Lee Rundall[4]
Staff	92.17 (FTE)[5]
Teaching staff	101[1]
Grades	9–12[1]
Gender	Coed[6]
Enrollment	2,114 (2022-2023)[5]
Average class size	18[1]
Student to teacher ratio	22.94[5]
Campus type	Mid-size City[1]
Color(s)	Red   White   Gold[7]
Fight song	Notre Dame Victory March
Athletics conference	Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10)[8]
Mascot	J-Hawk
Nickname	J-Hawks
Newspaper	The Times
Yearbook	Flight
Website	Official School Website

Athletics

Jefferson High School's mascot is the J-Hawk. The official school colors are red, white, and gold.^[9]

Jefferson High School is a member of the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10) and participates in state championship tournaments sanctioned by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).^[10]

The following competitive teams won their respective IHSA sanctioned state championship tournament:

• Bowling (Boys): State Champion (2002–03)^[11]
• Bowling (Girls): State Champion (2007–08)^[12]

Activities

The following competitive teams won their respective IHSA sanctioned state championship tournament:

• Chess: State Champion (1990–91)^{[13][citation needed]}
• Journalism: State Champion (2006–07)^[14]

Notable alumni

• Leonard Bell (1982) - defensive back, Cincinnati Bengals^[15]
• Chad Knaus (1989) - crew chief, Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion^[16]
• Kathryn Layng (1978) - actress, Doogie Howser, M.D.^[17]