History

T h e H i s t o r y o f N o r m a l C o m m u n i t y H i g h S c h o o l
Normal Community High School was originally founded in 1905.
The original NCHS was built in 1927.
It had 14 classrooms, a gymnasium, library, and administrative offices.
Average enrollment was 350.

In 1954, NCHS had grown to the point where additional classrooms and facilities were needed. This need resulted in two additions, one at the north end housing a cafeteria and music and speech classrooms, and one at the south end housing a new gymnasium (Arends), physics lab, agriculture lab, metals lab, woodworking lab and electronics lab.

Time capsule removed from original NCHS from 1927.

Again, in 1967, the growth of the community and increased enrollment resulted in a new addition to the NCHS building. This included another new gymnasium (Neuman), a new cafeteria, a new library, new biology and chemistry labs, an automotive lab, new classrooms and office space for the Unit 5 Superintendent. Average student enrollment after this last addition was over 1350 students, peaking at 1956 in 1974, immediately before the opening of Parkside Junior High School and the movement of 9th grade students to Chiddix and Parkside.

On March 21st, 2000, the Unit 5 Referendum was passed. This referendum approved a spending budget of over 73 million dollars, of which the State of Illinois will fund nearly 18 million dollars, for new construction and renovation of Unit 5 facilities. This will have quite an impact on NCHS.
A brand new campus opened for NCHS on an entirely new site on Raab Road northeast of Normal in August 2003. The new school include state-of-the-art, modern facilities for all academic and co-curricular programs. It even includes a swimming pool.

A portion of the previous NCHS building will be remodeled and become a new junior high school (Kingsley Junior High school) for Unit 5. The original 1927 construction will be torn down and the 1954 and 1967 sections completely updated.

Normal Community High School - The Present
In fall 2003 NCHS officially opened at its new location on Raab Road. This marked the beginning of the first school year at Normal Community's new location.

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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.

Inkspot story

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 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. 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…