Rich Township High School District #227 serves the residents of Country Club Hills, Matteson, parts of Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Richton Park, a small section of Chicago Heights, and adjoining rural areas in South Cook County. The district was formed from non-high-school territory in 1949. Construction of the East Campus of Rich Township High School, financed by a $1,600,000 bond issue, began in September 1952.
Twelve months later, it was operating as a four-year high school. During the 1952–53 school year, a ninth-grade school was operating in the Faith United Protestant Church in Park Forest. Located on a 55-acre (220,000 m2) site donated by American Community Builders, Inc., the original building accommodated approximately 750 students. In 1955, a $450,000 bond issue financed the addition of 12 classrooms and a gymnasium.
This increased the capacity of the school to approximately 1,100 students. In 1957, a $1,050,000 bond issue was passed and the money used to increase the size of the East Campus to accommodate 1,500 to 1,600 students. At the same time, 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land for a new high school site was purchased in Olympia Fields.
In 1959, a $1,690,000 bond issue was passed to finance building of the initial stage of a new Central Campus in Olympia Fields. The first stage provided facilities for about 700 students. The building has been recognized as one of the "significant schools of the future" in a monograph published by the Ford Foundation. In its July 1960 issue, The Nation's Schools carried a cover picture and a ten-page article on the new school under the title, "An Image of the Future in Olympia Fields, IL."
In 1960, a bond issue of $225,000 was approved to equip the new school which opened to approximately 425 students in the ninth and tenth grades in September 1961. At the same time, the East Campus enrolled about 1,600 students. In 1962, a $1,250,000 bond issue was authorized by voters in the district to build and equip an addition to the Central Campus facility bringing its capacity to 1,500 students. This addition was completed for the opening of school in September 1963.
In 1966, a $2,700,000 bond issue was authorized by voters in the district. $2,500,000 of the bond issue was for building and equipping additions to the Central and East Campus facilities. That brought the capacity of the Central Campus to 2,100 students and the East Campus to 1,800 students. $200,000 was used to purchase land for a third high school.[2]
Rich Central High School band has received invitations to the 2007-2008 FedExOrange Bowl in Miami, Florida; the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, Texas; and the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia.[citation needed] In modern times they have won The Chicago Football Classic 2014 as well as the Bud Billiken Day Parade located in Chicago, Illinois
