Walter Payton College Preparatory High School

Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, commonly known as Payton College Prep, W.P.C.P. or simply Payton, is a highly-rated public 4-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the Old Town Neighborhood on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. 

Walter Payton College Prep is currently ranked as the No. 1 public high school in the State of Illinois and No. 9 in the United States, by US News & World Report. 

The preparatory school was founded in 2000 and is part of the Chicago Public Schools system. The school, located on Chicago's near north side, is one of the city's nine selective enrollment high schools. It was named after football legend Walter Payton, who was a former member of the Chicago Bears.

Walter Payton College Preparatory High School is a selective enrollment public high school and an international model for global teaching and learning. Since its inception in 2000, Payton Prep has become the quintessential space for student discovery, intellectual curiosity, and international exploration. Nestled in the heart of downtown Chicago, Payton has a distinguished and award-winning reputation for its world-class math, science, world-language, humanities, fine arts, and adventure education programs.

In addition to the portfolio of challenging academic courses, Payton students participate in an array of student driven clubs, extracurricular activities, and a host of competitive sports programs. Global destinations like France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Czech Republic, China, and South Africa have become Payton’s outdoor classrooms, as hundreds of students participate in global exchange programs and international studies. Payton students also engage in international exploration in the world’s only high school to house a Confucius Institute, designed to support the growth of the school’s Mandarin Chinese Language Program. Payton’s Seminar Program provides students with a unique opportunity to de-stress; students frequently participate in seminars ranging from horseback riding, Improv comedy, Pilates, Math Modeling, and Bridge Building, to Exploring Harry Potter, Judo, Morningstar, and Beginning Acoustic Guitar – just to name a few.

The Walter Payton College Preparatory High School is a Public university located in Chicago.
The Walter Payton College Preparatory High School was founded in 2000.
The current president of Walter Payton College Preparatory High School is Timothy Patrick Devine.