Chicago Vocational High School (also known as Chicago Vocational Career Academy and locally known as CVCA or CVS) is a public 4–year vocational high school located in the Avalon Park neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1941, the school is operated by Chicago Public Schools district.

Planning for the school began in 1936 with the need for a new vocational school on the South Side of the city.^[6] The school groundbreaking ceremony occurred in June 1938.^[7][8] Construction began in 1939, and was partially funded through the Works Progress Administration.^[6] With construction completed in April 1940, Chicago Vocational School opened with an all–male class of 850 in 1941.^[6][9] Enrollment was further restricted to students who had already completed a year of high school.^[10]

According to then Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, Dr. William H. Johnson, the school's purpose was "the employ-ability of Chicago boys in the heavier trades and industries."^[10] The Chicago Daily Tribune noted that the new school was "regarded as the most modern and best equipped trade school in the United States."^[10] In June 1941, with entry into World War II imminent, the school was turned over to the United States Navy, where the school's emphasis would be on training aviation mechanics.^[6][11][12]

This change from general vocational education to specific wartime training had been something anticipated as a possible future of the school shortly before it had opened.^[10] Later, additional training for teachers and other civilians in national defense jobs were added. These defense related training courses permitted the Defense Priority Board to free up funds for purchasing more equipment for workshops, and to build a US$500,000 addition to the building. Construction also included a still–extant airplane hangar.^[6] During this time, non–vocational courses were moved to Calumet High School.^[6][13] By 1942, classes were being taught 24 hours a day to accommodate work and training schedules.^[14][15][16]

February 1946 saw the academic classes return from Calumet High School, and a return to the normalcy that the school had virtually never known, with the Navy officially "handing back the keys" to the school on April 30, 1946.^[17][18] 1946 also the admittance of the first women to the school.^[14][19] CVS started offering night courses to help returning veterans who held a day job. For times, classes were being offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week to accommodate the varied hours of returning veterans.^[14][20] The Navy had left behind an aircraft hangar, and a small number of relatively intact "war weary" combat aircraft, keeping aviation maintenance in the school's curriculum until 1995. This was highlighted in 1948 when students restored a Stinson Reliant monoplane to airworthy condition.

Rather than dismantle the plane and shipping it to an airport, the owner pilot received permission to wheel the plane onto nearby Anthony Avenue, and take off and fly it to Midway Airport; all in front of cameras for WGN-TV.^[21][22][23] the school was home to a Civil Air Patrol Cadet squadron but 1958 saw the activation of the school's ROTC program; the first to be started in a Chicago high school since 1946. The same article noted that the entire population of the school was 4,000, with the first ROTC class seeing an enrollment of 250.^[24]

When the school first opened, it was not a diploma granting institution, with students earning certificates for industry. Aside from vocational education, students only took courses in English and United States History,^[10] Being a vocational and career academy, one of the core aspects of the school's curriculum is the Education-To-Careers (ETC) curriculum. Within this curriculum, students select a "major" from one of the "schools", such as the School of Construction and Manufacturing and the School of Transportation.^[25]

Chicago Vocational competes in interscholastic sports as a member of the Chicago Public League (CPL), and competes in state championship series sponsored by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The schools' sport teams are nicknamed Cavaliers. The school sponsors interscholastic athletic teams for men and women in basketball and volleyball. Men may compete in baseball, football, swimming & diving, and wrestling. Girls may compete in bowling, cross country, softball, and track & field.^[26] While not sponsored by the IHSA, CVS sponsors a boys softball team which competes exclusively in the CPL. Unlike the fast-pitch variety played by girls, the boys play the 16 inch variety of softball.^[27][28]

The boys' baseball team were public league champions four times (1952–53, 1975–76, 1979–80 and 1986–87) and Class AA twice (1979–80 and 1986–87). The boys' basketball team were Class AA twice (1975–76 and 2006–07) and regional champions four times (2006–07, 2008–09, 2014–15, and 2015–16). In 1988–89, The girls' bowling team were public league champions. The boys' cross country were Class AA four times from 1987 through 1991. The golf team were public league champions in 1951–52. In 1990–91, the boys' track and field team were public league champions and Class AA. The boys' wrestling team were public league champions in 1967–68.^[29] The school was the site of the weightlifting competition for the 1959 Pan American Games.^[30]