The school is named for African–American network television reporter and Chicago-based journalist Michele Clark.

The school was to accommodate 1,500 students along with a recreational space conjoined with the Chicago Park District.

In 1965, Clark returned to Chicago and began studying Broadcast Journalism at Roosevelt University; graduating with her B.A.

Clark once again returned home to Chicago in May 1972, and began work as a reporter for WBBM-TV before working as a CBS News correspondent, occasional morning-show host and news anchor in Washington, D.C.[6] Clark died on a flight from Washington to Chicago, en route to visit her parents on December 8, 1972, in the United Airlines Flight 553 at Chicago's Midway International Airport along with 43 others.

[7] Clark competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).