Construction crews are at work on West Dresser Road building the new DeKalb High School.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 27. If everything goes to schedule, students will start using the building in Fall 2011, according to a School District 428 press release. The new school, approved by voters in February 2008, is being built about 300 yards west of Katz Park.

The new high school, being constructed on an 80 acre site, will increase capacity to 2,500 students from the 1,400 student capacity at the current school, according to a Northern Star article from October 2, 2008. The new school’s construction budget is $88.5 million, according the article.

NIU also has an interest in the new high school. The university and District 428 are working through a partnership related to the new school that is aimed to improve performance of all students and includes “joint research and co-teaching by DHS and NIU faculty” according to NIU’s Web site.

The new school will be the fourth DeKalb High School. The first was built in 1861 on Third Street and Prospect Street and graduated a class of four in 1874, according to the NIU Regional History Archives.

The second DeKalb High School was built in 1903 and was used until 1966 when the current school was built on Barb Boulevard and Fourth Street.