McHenry Community High School District 156

Daniel Avila needed a car to help care for his family. His community stepped up by raising $10K in a GoFundMe campaign.

Traffic on Green Street in McHenry will be detoured Thursday morning as McHenry Community High School District 156 upgrades the HVAC system at the Lower Campus.

The McHenry-Wonder Lake Lions Club recently awarded $13,000 to organizations serving the blind and visually impaired and other community organizations.

Dawn Bremer is a real estate agent, school board member and charity organizer who's known for helping out in many ways in the McHenry area and rallying others to help.

Members of the Class of 2025 graduate from McHenry High School during their commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at McCracken Field in McHenry.

Teacher Appreciation Week closed out fittingly this year with recognition teachers at the McHenry County Educators of the Year ceremony, hosted by the county's Regional Office of Education.

Sean Sterner was set for the assistant principal job at McHenry High School's Freshman Campus, but Greg Eiserman's departure to the high school puts him in the top position

Many of the McHenry High School seniors who have completed the four-year biomedical science program are also now certified nursing assistants. Graduates held a white coat ceremony at the school recently.

The voting is now open in McHenry, as students from McHenry High School vie to have their mural printed on vinyl and installed on a downtown building.

McHenry High School District 156 has students from around the world learning English and core subjects, with Kelsey Podgorski keeping watch on their progress.

A group of Marine Corps League members recently visited McHenry Community High School Upper Campus to present a $500 donation.

Greg Eiserman, principal at McHenry High School's Freshman Campus, taking over the Upper Campus job. Jeff Prickett is moving to Grayslake's Meadowview Elementary.

McHenry's Economic Development department is working with McHenry School District 156, building owners and artists to develop new murals set to go up this spring

Nine educators in McHenry County from school districts in Crystal Lake, McHenry, Woodstock, Cary and Johnsburg have been recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education through this year’s “Those Who Excel" and "Teacher of the Year” awards.

McHenry High School's Heidie Dunn was named Far North Suburbs Regional Teacher of the Year.

Road conditions were worsening and many McHenry County schools called off after-school activities Wednesday as snow began piling up on its way to a possible half a foot of accumulation.

The McHenry Area Rotary Club announced that its Bands, Brews & BBQ, started in 2012, will not take place this year.

McHenry Community High School of District 156 raised $4,900 for their Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge via the Cool School Challenge Saturday.

McHenry County schools joined districts throughout northern Illinois and called off school on Tuesday.

Gary and Cheryl Myers have trained their goldendoodle, Bailey, as a comfort dog at McHenry High School District 156, giving students away to relax on stressful days

McHenry Community High School has announced that 46 of its seniors have been named Illinois State Scholars.

A look back at some of photojournalist Gregory Shaver's favorite pictures of the month in the Northwest Herald for December.

A McHenry County judge will decide if a Wonder Lake man is guilty of his second or third DUI offense, given he was convicted of causing a fatal boat crash while drunk.

A look back at some of photojournalist Gregory Shaver's favorite pictures of the month in the Northwest Herald for November.

11 cases of whooping cough were reported in the county in November, according to the county reports

Several local veterans, whose service spanned from WWII to Vietnam to Desert Storm and beyond, talk about their experiences in military service during a Veterans Day panel discussion on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, at Upper Campus of McHenry High School. “It is always a special day when we welcome our veterans to our buildings to talk about their experiences,” said Sean Sterner, chair of McHenry High School’s social science division which organized the event.

Richard Phannenstill worked for decades to raise funds for a memorial honoring his classmates who died in Vietnam. A portion of those funds, raised 10 years ago, went to Veterans Path to Hope this year.

Whooping cough cases continue to be on the rise in McHenry County, with the number of cases through October exceeding all of 2023 by more than double.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has been reported in two McHenry schools, and the countywide cases year to date are already double the number from all of last year.

Search our table to see what designation your McHenry County school received on the 2024 school report card.

This week, the Illinois State Board of Education released school- and district-level data showing what percentage of McHenry County students were considered proficient in math and reading last year. Check out this chart to see if that's an improvement over the prior year.

McHenry High School celebrated its 100th year Sunday, with a parade through town and a rally at Miller Point Park.

McHenry High School kicked off homecoming week Sunday with a parade and rally to mark 100 years since school opened in what's now Freshman Campus. The homecoming game against Crystal Lake South kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday at McCracken Field.

The McHenry Rotary Club recently made a $20,000 donation to McHenry High School District 156 to pay student's dual credit course fees, ensuring all students can receive college credit for their work while still in high school

Woodstock School District 200 has different rules about cellphones for different age levels. The school board recently reviewed its policies as districts nationwide grapple with how to regulate phones.

Sideline Squad – which aims to provide supervision and entertainment for children during siblings' sports events – will host its first kids club during the McHenry High School homecoming Friday.

McHenry High School seniors signed up to vote Tuesday, ahead of their slightly younger peers who won't make the cutoff to participate in the high-stakes election.

Honor Flight attendees were welcomed home with a surprise ceremony Sunday at McHenry High School.

Some McHenry County high schools already had policies about keeping cellphones off and out of sight – but now they're enforcing them more strictly as evidence mounts about potential harms, especially from social media.

Woodstock District 200 will be joining several other McHenry County school systems that are offering school bus-tracking apps.

A new school year has arrived in McHenry County with optimism, nerves, cautions.

Girls flag football officially becomes an IHSA-sanctioned sport this fall. Local players got tips from the Chicago Bears at a camp at McHenry High School Wednesday.

Girls flag football becomes an official high school sport in Illinois this fall. Many players are new to the sport but are getting tips from the Chicago Bears.

A confessed serial killer who murdered two young women in McHenry County in 1970 is scheduled to appear before a state parole board in July.

The McHenry/Wonder Lake Lions Club has awarded three $500 scholarships to graduating McHenry Community High School seniors who will attend MCC.

McHenry Community High School District 156 invites families of home-school and private school students to meet with district officials to discuss special education services on April 25.

Kelsey Podgorski, assistant director of multilingual education at McHenry High School, started work to create a school multicultural fair when she took on her new role in July with hopes of continuing to build the event each year at the school.

McHenry Community High School is showcasing cultures from around the world at the school’s first-ever Multicultural Fair.

Cary resident Evan Cochrane will be competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May after winning the McHenry County Regional Spelling Bee Wednesday.

Nominations are due by March 1; those who graduated from McHenry High School at least 15 years ago will be considered.