- Northwest Guilford High School
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For schools of a similar name, see Northwest High School (disambiguation).
Northwest Guilford High School (NWGHS) Location 5240 Northwest School Road
Greensboro, North Carolina,
United StatesInformation Type Public Motto "Where the best get better." School district Guilford County Schools Principal Ralph Kitley Teaching staff 120[1] Grades 9-12 Enrollment 1,947 Color(s) Red, Black, and White Mascot The Vikings Website Northwest Guilford High School 
Northwest Guilford Vikings.
Northwest Guilford High School is a public high school in Guilford County, North Carolina. The school currently has an enrollment of 1,947 students[2] in grades 9 through 12, making it the public school with the largest enrollment in Guilford County.
The school was ranked by Newsweek's Best High Schools in America as 261st among American high schools.[3] The school has also received an award from Siemens for its strength in Science and Math AP education,[4] and was listed by High Schools That Work[5] as one of the top 36 high schools in the United States, the only high school in North Carolina to receive an honorable mention[citation needed].
Contents
Rivalries and Traditions
The school has long had a sports-based rivalry with Western Guilford High School, and more recently with Northern Guilford High School.
Northwest has three dances throughout the year including the Homecoming dance following the Homecoming Football Game, the Twirp, an acronym for "The woman is required to pay," dance (based on the Sadie Hawkins dance tradition), and the Junior and Senior Prom.
Facilities
Due to the recent increase in population in the area, several additions have occurred at Northwest, including the adaption of a two-story educational building completed in 2002, a second gym completed in 2003, and cultural arts wing at the school. Northwest now has two gyms: the "Old Gym" and the "New Gym;" as well as two main buildings, the "Old Building" and the "New Building."
The original main building at the school, the "Old Building," serves primarily as the English, CTE, and Environmental Science building, and the Educational Building, or "New Building," serves primarily as the Mathematics, Foreign Language, Biology, and Physical Science building.
The Vocational Building houses classes such as Drafting, Technology, and Graphic Design, and trailers serve mostly as the Social Studies classrooms. The Vocational Building used to be the home of the school's Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) until the program was decommissioned in the Spring of 2004.
Academics
Northwest has the largest selection of Advanced Placement courses in Guilford County[citation needed]. The school also has Honors and College Prep courses. Due to lack of interest, it no longer has an ROTC program.
The school is also actively involved and successful in competitions such as We the People in which the team has held the state title and participated in national competition for all but one of the past 14 years, placing in the Top Ten at nationals in the spring of 2007 and 2011. Their winning streak was cut short by the Raleigh Charter High School team, which went on to place 13th in its first trip to nationals. Northwest also participates in Mock Trial, the National Forensic League, Science Olympiad, and has sent numerous students to the International Beijing Science Competition. The Speech and Debate Club currently participates in the National Forensic League.
Northwest's school paper modified its name in 2007, from "The Northwest Express" to "Northwest Horizons".[6] "Northwest Horizons" has received numerous awards. In 2008, it won First Place Features and Second Place Graphics from the North Carolina Press Association (NCSPA). In 2009 and 2010, it was named "All-North Carolina" by the NCSPA and won the Southern Interscholastic Press Association's "Shoquist Freedom of the Press" Award.[7]
Athletics
Northwest is a 4A school with a large athletic program, with sports programs in soccer, basketball, football, tennis, swimming, lacrosse, baseball, wrestling, tennis, track, cross country, field hockey, volleyball, and golf, among others.
Arts
Northwest has a strong fine arts program, including award winning concert and marching bands,[8] orchestral ensembles, arts classes, drama department, and vocal ensembles.
Clubs
Northwest High School offers many extra-curricular clubs and teams including: The Popcorn Club[9] FBLA, Science Olympiad, DECA, Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), Anime Club, Key Club, Philosophy Club, Math Club, Spanish Club, German Club, Drama Club, Book Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletics (FCA), Horsepower, SAVE/SADD, Speech and Debate, Breakfast Club, and Junior Classical League (JCL).
In addition, Northwest offers students in 11th or 12th grade to participate in the National Honor Society, which promotes academic achievements and outstanding performance in the world. There are also National Art Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society branches at Northwest.
Notable alumni
- Rusty LaRue '91, NBA Player
See also
- Guilford County Schools
- North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
- North Carolina State Board of Education
References
- ^ http://www.ncreportcard.org/src/schDetails.jsp?Page=4&pSchCode=490&pLEACode=410&pYear=2007-2008 NC Report Card
- ^ http://www.gcsnc.com/schools/high/northwesthigh/index.html Northwest High School Homepage
- ^ http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?q=2008/rank/201/ Newsweek Best High Schools in America
- ^ http://schoolcenter.gcsnc.com/education/components/docmgr/default.php?sectiondetailid=191048 Siemens Award
- ^ http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/insnoteworthy/HSThatWorkInvolvedSchls.html High Schools that Work
- ^ http://www.englishisamazing.com/Newspaper/styleguide%2009-10.doc Style Guide
- ^ http://www.northwesthorizons.com/ Northwest Horizons
- ^ http://www.nwvikingband.org Northwest Viking Band
- ^ http://www.thepopcornclub.org The Popcorn Club
External links
- Guilford County Schools
- Guilford County Schools - Northwest
- Northwest Guilford High School
- Northwest Viking Bands
- Northwest Horizons School Newspaper
Coordinates: 36°09′13″N 79°57′17″W / 36.1535361°N 79.9547°W
Categories:- High schools in North Carolina
- Schools in Greensboro, North Carolina
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