History of Adams HS

History of Adams HS

John Adams High School opened on September 30, 1940 as part of a program sponsored by the Federal Works Agency and the Public Works Administration. The school opened late due to the polio epidemic of the 1930s. The school auditorium was once the only large performing stage in South Bend. It has been the site of many historical events and performers such as the premiere screening of Knute Rockne, All American, concerts by Kate Smith, Ezio Pinza and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a taping of The Fred Waring Show and a speech by John Wooden.

Wikipedia Link to John Adams history (Click here)

Selected scenes from the movie Rudy were filmed in John Adams High School.

The school's 2008-2009 enrollment was approximately 2000, which made it the second largest high school in the South Bend metropolitan area. The mock trial team at Adams won two national titles, in 2009 and 2011, as well as 16 state titles, making it the most successful competitive high school mock trial program in state history.

State and National Recognition

John Adams Athletics has a total of 22 Indiana State Championships and 2 National Championship.

Seven sports have won state championships, and the mock trial program has won two national championships.

State Champions	Years
Boys Wrestling	1966
Boys Swimming	1966, 1967, 1968
Girls Swimming	1972
Boys Golf	1973
Boys Tennis	1975
Volleyball	1977, 1979
Mock Trial	1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
National Champions	Years
Mock Trial	2009, 2011

In 1966, the football team was ranked 3rd in Indiana State Rankings and 9th Nationally.
In the 1972-1973 season, the boys basketball team finished 2nd in Indiana state tournament.
In the 1978-1979 season, the boys basketball team was ranked 1st in every Indiana regular season poll.

In 2012 and 2013 Adams began to grow as an athletic power. In 2012, the basketball team won a sectional title and defeated the Lake Central Indians, led by future Michigan star Glenn Robinson, Jr in the regional semifinals. The following school year The football team, coached by Craig Redman, compiled a 9-3 record, equaling the school record for wins. Coach Redman won conference coach of the year in football, as well as wrestling. The Basketball team again won a sectional title. Along the way they defeated Penn, Mishawaka Marian, and New Haven, all teams who had players committed to play basketball at Notre Dame.

Fine arts

Under the direction of Kathleen Kohn, the orchestra sends ensembles and soloists to compete at the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) competition, earning several golds each year.

Show choir is a popular activity at Adams and nearly all performers in the ISSMA vocal competition receive a gold rating. They consistently perform in group I, the top group in ISSMA competitions.

The John Adams Eagle Marching Band qualified for regionals in 2006 for the first time since 1996, and received a silver rating at the ISSMA regional competition. In 2007 the band qualified for regionals again and received a gold rating with a score 70.85, the highest score in South Bend history. The Eagles' concert band has also received gold ratings in group II for the past two years in a row at the ISSMA competition and every year sends performers to the ISSMA State Solo and Ensemble Competition, as well as All-District Honor Band. In addition, the two jazz bands at Adams are well-known locally for their performances, such as Big Band Bash and Jazz Soundsations, and they participate in state competitions such as the Ball State Jazz Fest.

Academics

Nevin Longenecker created the Science Research program at John Adams High School to further the education of students with a predisposition for science. Over the years Adams students have garnered grants and awards totaling over two million dollars. Recent awards include the two winners of the Indiana Academy of Science State Competition.^[1] Also, in 2010, the program produced an Intel Science Talent Search finalist.
Under the leadership of Rosemary Hess, the school had been approved as an International Baccalaureate (IB) certified school. The present IB program coordinator is Dr. Mika Roinila.^[2]
Colleges attended by recent valedictorians have included Indiana University Bloomington, University of Notre Dame, University of Chicago, Princeton University, Harvard College, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Georgetown University and Yale University.^{[citation needed]}

IB Program

John Adams began offering the IB Program in May, 2006.^[3] Adams was the first inner-city school to offer the program, and remains the only South Bend high school to do so. The IB two-year program is among the most rigorous academic programs of study available to high school students.^[4] IB test scores for Adams students in 2009 were above the world average in 6 out of the 10 tests.^[5]

Budget cuts proposed in early 2010 by the South Bend Community School Corporation^[6] that would have raised the cost to families of some IB testing fees were reduced or eliminated in March 2010.^[7]