Taft High School is a public four-year high school located in the Norwood Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Taft serves communities on the far northwest side, specifically Norwood Park, Edison Park, Jefferson Park, Forest Glen and O'Hare. Taft is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. Rydell High School in Grease (musical) is based on Taft.
Taft's NJROTC unit won a Distinguished Unit award every year from 2001 to 2014. In the late 1990sâÂÂto stanch the loss of studentsâÂÂChicago Public Schools made significant changes to the school to attract more neighborhood students. These included an NJROTC unit, a selective-enrollment academic center for 7th and 8th grade students, and an International Baccalaureate Diploma program. Taft's IB program became authorized in 2001, and since 2014 has been a "wall-to-wall" IB World School.
Taft competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The boys baseball team were Public League champions in 1968, CPS quarter-finalists in 1985, and regional champions in 2009. The girls volleyball team were Public League champions in the 1979âÂÂ80 season.
In 2018, the boys varsity football team brought home its first Chicago Public League championship since 1972 with a 29âÂÂ13 win over Eric Solorio Academy High School.
The wrestling team won four consecutive Chicago Public League Championships. (2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021)
A nine-hole putting green was installed , costing ultimately $32,000.
In 2024, the girls' flag football team was both the city and state regional champions.
In 2025, the boys' soccer team won the Chicago Public League city championship, with an undefeated regular season record, (18-0) against Lane Tech College Prep High School. They became the first boys soccer team in CPS to finish a regular season unbeaten, untied, and as city champions since Harrison High School in 1974. This was their second city championship in the past two years; they defeated Sarah Goode in 2023. Despite losing in the state playoffs to Niles West, the boys soccer team finished #4 in the state of Illinois for the 2025 season.
The Academic Center at William Howard Taft High School is a selective enrollment program offering the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme curriculum (IB-MYP). Students may earn up to nine high school credits, depending on how many classes they pass.
*denotes high school credit
While Taft has over 250 staff members, its Academic Center has a limited amount of teachers, as about 90 students are enrolled each year. Some of these teachers teach freshman classes.