Hillcrest High School is a public four year high school located in Country Club Hills, Illinois. It is part of Bremen High School District 228 which also includes Tinley Park High School, Oak Forest High School, and Bremen High School.The name "Hillcrest" aside from the obvious connotation of being "the highest point of a hill", is a portmanteau of the two towns which the school primarily serves: Country Club Hills and Hazel Crest.HistoryThe first principal of Hillcrest, William Henry Reeves, was appointed in May 1965, leaving his job as principal of Bremen High School to start the new school. Groundbreaking took place in November of that year, with a needed bond referendum passing in December 1966 to cover construction of an addition, even before the school was opened. The school opened in February 1967.The early 1970s at Hillcrest saw a number of racially motivated incidents as the demographics of the school's attendance area began to shift. A late April 1970 incident, coupled with similar incidents in other local schools led to the spread of attacks beyond the school to the local community of Markham. In 1971, the school was temporarily closed after a racially motivated fight that resulted in 48 students being suspended. 1973 saw a 14 May riot that resulted in 34 suspensions and the recommendation for 20 expulsions. When the school board, under pressure from parents, decided to rescind some of the punishments without consulting the building staff or administration, the school's principal, Lee Cox, requested reassignment.
