August 13th is the local students’ first day back to school for the 2025-2026 school year. In celebration, let’s look at Huntley’s educational past. We begin with the one-room country schools then detail some of the changes throughout the decades. Then, we’ll look finally at some highlights of the school district’s innovations.
One-room country schools existed in the Huntley area until the 1920s and taught first through eighth grade. Reports from the county described them as being equipped with stoves, well pumps, and outhouses. The Huntley Area Public Library (in the Local History Area) has available a Historic Country Schools of the Huntley Area handout detailing 14 one-room schools from around this area. We hope you will read more about them. The educational vibe started changing with the busing of rural students to the town school. Huntley schools were the first of the McHenry County districts to consolidate. Nine of these 14 one-room schools became a part of District 158.
We hope you will stop by our Local History Area and pick up a self-guided tour of Huntley’s Historic Schools. The guide has nine locations listed along with wonderful historic details courtesy of the Village of Huntley Historic Preservation Commission. Most of the locations have been razed, repurposed, or sold. For example, the former high school building is being used by the Huntley Park District as a recreation center. The former Huntley Consolidated School (later known as North School) building and athletic fields were sold to a commercial developer in early 2006.
Today, there are five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. Huntley 158 has been recognized as a state and national leader for innovative K-12 education. The school district is known for the campus-concept idea which was created in the 2000s. Another electric innovation is that District 158 has the largest solar-powered system at a school district in the State of Illinois (2020). This saves the school district millions of dollars in utility bills as reported by Dr. Rowe. (ForeFrontPower) We eagerly await to discover how the Huntley 2030: Building Tomorrow Together will shape the educational future of this friendly village with country charm.
