Normal Community High School 3900 East Raab Road Normal, IL
Normal Community High School has ~2100 students and 130 faculty.
Almost 50% of our teachers have Masters + education and 12 National Board Certified Teachers.
We offer a wide variety of activities for students to participate in such as athletics, scholastic competitions, clubs and service organizations.
Our students leave NCHS well prepared for their future in the military, trades, college or career choice.
Normal Community High School was established in 1905. Our continued mission is to establish a community of learners, pursuing excellence every day. As a community, we Ironmen work together and support each other. Iron sharpens iron.
A community of learners pursuing personal excellence every day
Vision Statement:
Normal Community High School is a vibrant hub where curiosity thrives, diversity is celebrated, and collaboration flourishes, building on a legacy of excellence where every member is empowered to make a positive impact locally and globally.
Question: How did Normal Community High School's athletic teams become known as the Ironmen? Answer: At a football game in 1942, the Normal High team had only 11 players to compete against vaunted Bloomington High, causing Pantagraph sports editor Fred Young to call them “iron men.” It stuck.
When Normal High laced up their cleats, preparing to take to the gridiron against Bloomington, the nineteen-man football roster had no idea they’d become a part of local lore, that the annual Intercity contest would one day be the stuff of legend. On that fall Saturday, October 27, 1934, only eleven members of the Normal roster would see the field. Eleven. The absolute bare minimum required to field a team.
Eleven, playing each snap, each down, each and every series on both sides of the ball, as Community’s head coach Ralph “Hap” Arends made no substitutions in the 19-12 victory over Bloomington High. Eleven “iron men” read the “Daily Pantagraph” sports section on Sunday morning, a sports writer lauding those eleven’s resilience, strength and athletic prowess on the field.
Midway through an Oct. 28, 1934 Daily Pantagraph article, the Ironmen nickname was born. Under the subhead “Team of Iron Men,” the text reads: “You can call the Normal gridders an outfit of “iron me” because Coach Ralph Arends did not use a single substitute, not even for the 125 pound Ed Robards, who played a bangup game at guard for the full 40 minutes. Showing surprising scoring punch against Bloomington’s previously sturdy defense, Normal marched for touchdowns on three occasions, taking advantage of every scoring opportunity. The Community lads, rated no better than an even chance before the game, outcharged the Bloomington forwards and used perfect timing and deception to pierce the Purple defense repeatedly.”
The original “iron men” where helmed by head coach Mr. Hap Arends. A gym at Kingsley Jr. High, the former Normal Community, bears his name.
Midway through an Oct. 28, 1934 Daily Pantagraph article, the Ironmen nickname was born. Under the subhead “Team of Iron Men,” the text reads: “You can call the Normal gridders an outfit of “iron me” because Coach Ralph Arends did not use a single substitute, not even for the 125 pound Ed Robards, who played a bangup game at guard for the full 40 minutes. Showing surprising scoring punch against Bloomington’s previously sturdy defense, Normal marched for touchdowns on three occasions, taking advantage of every scoring opportunity. The Community lads, rated no better than an even chance before the game, outcharged the Bloomington forwards and used perfect timing and deception to piecre the Purple defense repeatedly.”The original “iron men” where helmed by head coach Mr. Hap Arends. A gym at Kingsley Jr. High, the former Normal Community, bears his name.
The rest, as they say, is history.
For almost 90 years, Normal has embraced the moniker and the mascot, with generations of athletes inspiring to live up to the “Ironmen” title every time they took the field, the diamond, the track, the court…
