 Cooley competed in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and was a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).The school's sport teams were known as the Comets.The high school was the subject of the 1975 film "Cooley High", written by Eric Monte, an alumnus of the real-life Cooley High who based the film on his experiences attending the school and growing up in Cabrini-Green.