Conant opened in 1964 and was the first high school built within Schaumburg Township, and the third in District 211. It was named after James Bryant Conant, a chemist, educator, and leading authority on teacher education, who helped model the high school system used today.[11] Conant serves students who reside in the east side of Schaumburg, the west side of Elk Grove Village, the northern Cook County section of Roselle and the Southeast side of Hoffman Estates.
Conant also served students in the Northern Cook County section of Hanover Park until 2001. In 2000, District 211 approved a boundary change that sent about 300 Conant students who resided in Hanover Park and the south side of Schaumburg to attend Schaumburg High School to relieve overcrowding at Conant.
Academics
In 2018, James B. Conant High School was ranked No. 25 in the state according to U.S. News & World Report, making it the highest-ranked high school in District 211.[12]
In 2008, the senior class of Conant HS scored an average of 22.9 on the ACT, and 94.7% of the senior class graduated.[citation needed]
In 2006, Conant was recognized by the College Board as having the highest percentage of students passing their Advanced Placement or AP exams in the College Board's Midwest Region.[14]
In January 2016, the Conant Hyperloop Club, founded by Nick Pope, received a Subsystem Technical Excellence Award in the SpaceX-sponsored Hyperloop pod competition. The award was for outstanding technical merit in subsystem and design, based on "innovation and uniqueness of subsystem design, full Hyperloop system applicability and economics; level of design detail; strength of supporting analysis and tests; and quality of documentation and presentation."[15]
Athletics
Conant High School competes in the Mid-Suburban League (MSL), and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), which governs most interscholastic sports and academic competitions in Illinois. The teams representing the school are stylized as the Cougars.