Northwest Classen High School

Northwest Classen High School
Address
2801 Northwest 27th Street Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73107 United States
Coordinates	35°29′54″N 97°33′48″W / 35.4983919°N 97.5633735°W / 35.4983919; -97.5633735Coordinates: 35°29′54″N 97°33′48″W / 35.4983919°N 97.5633735°W / 35.4983919; -97.5633735 [1]
Information
Established	1955
Opened	September 2, 1955
School district	Oklahoma City Public Schools
CEEB Code	372685
Principal	Scott Howard
Staff	90
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1093
Student to teacher ratio	14.4
School Colour(s)	Purple and Gold
Mascot	Bedivere - Knight of the Round Table
Nickname	Northwest Classen Knights
Team name	Knights
Average ACT scores	151 testers with an average composite of 16.7 (2010)[2]
Newspaper	'The Shield'
Website	Home of the Knights

Northwest Classen High School is a public high school serving students in grades 9-12 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

History

Northwest Classen High School was built in 1955 to accommodate the growing population in the northwest corridor of Oklahoma City. Along with Classen School of Advanced Studies, it was named for Anton H. Classen, an early Oklahoma City real estate developer and philanthropist ^{[3] [4]}.

As the neighborhoods around Northwest Classen have changed, so has the cultural makeup of the campus. Initially an almost all-Caucasian school, the population has gradually become more multi-cultural. Today, the enrollment in the school is nearly an equal split of Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian students with almost 100 different races and cultures represented.

Quigley firing

In May of 2009, longtime English language teacher Joe Quigley was fired by the Board of the Oklahoma City Public Schools citing "Giving zeros for behavior, rather than academic performance, not entering grades on Smart Web where parents can get on the computer and see what their child is doing" and generally poor performance as a reason. Quigley claimed that he had been singled out because he had pushed for anti-discrimination policies for homosexual students.^[5]

On August 26, 2009, Oklahoma County District Judge Barbara Swinton ruled that Mr. Quigley had been wrongly terminated, and ordered him reinstated ^[6]

Mr.Quigley was reinstated, though he was assigned to U. S. Grant High School. In April of 2010, he learned that his position would not be renewed for the 2010-2011 school year.^[7]

Extracurricular activities

Northwest fields teams in Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association-sanctioned competition in fast-pitch softball, football, cheerleading, cross country, volleyball, basketball, swimming/diving, wrestling, golf, soccer, and track. ^[8]

Notable alumni

Name	Claim to Fame	Graduation Year
Mason Williams [9]	Recording Artist	1956
Edward Ruscha [9]	Artist	1956
William A. Martin [10]	Computer Scientist, Artificial Intelligence Pioneer	1956
Ronald Fagin [11]	Computer Scientist, Author of Fagin's theorem	1963
Ron Norick [12][13]	Former mayor of Oklahoma City	1965
Elizabeth (Herring) Warren [14]	Appointed by President Obama as special adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner while establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.9/18/2010. Professor, Harvard Law School.	1966
Kirk Humphreys [13]	Former Mayor of Oklahoma City	1968
Skip Bayless [15]	Sports Broadcaster	1970
Vince Gill [16]	Recording Artist	1975
Sean O'Grady [17]	World Boxing Association Lightweight Champion	1977
Brad Piccolo[citation needed]	Recording Artist (member of Red Dirt Rangers)	1979
Kevin Thornton [18]	Recording Artist (member of Color Me Badd)	1987
Bryan Abrams [18]	Recording Artist (member of Color Me Badd)	1988
Sam Watters [18]	Recording Artist (member of Color Me Badd)	1988
Darnell Jackson [19]	NBA Basketball Player	2003 (transferred)

References

1. ^ "Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report". Geographic Names Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1979-12-18. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1096045. Retrieved 2008-01-23. 
2. ^ "Oklahoma Public High School Average ACT Scores: 2010 Graduates". Oklahoma State Department of Education. http://sde.state.ok.us/Services/News/2010/ACT_Data_2010.pdf. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
3. ^ "Northwest Classen High School". Oklahoma City Public Schools. http://www.okcps.org/sch/hs/nwchs.htm/. Retrieved 2008-01-23. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Classen High School History". Classen High School Alumni Association. http://classenokc.org/. Retrieved 2008-01-23. 
5. ^ "Teacher Backs Gay Policies, Fired by School Board". KWTV News 9. http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?s=10349549&clienttype=printable. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 
6. ^ "Court orders Oklahoma City teacher reinstated". The Daily Oklahoman. http://newsok.com/court-orders-oklahoma-city-teacher-reinstated/article/3396039. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 
7. ^ "U.S. Grant staff cuts stir tension". The Daily Oklahoman. http://www.newsok.com/article/3454709. Retrieved 2010-05-16. 
8. ^ "OSSAA Schools Classification by Sport". Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association. Archived from the original on 2007-12-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20071210043818/http://www.ossaa.com/partners/ossaa/classifications/index.html. Retrieved 2008-01-23. 
9. ^ ^{a b} "What's New with Mason Williams". Mason Williams. http://www.masonwilliams-online.com/news.html. Retrieved 2008-01-23. 
10. ^ "Obituary". MIT. http://groups.csail.mit.edu/medg/people/wam.html. Retrieved 2008-09-13. 
11. ^ "Ron Fagin's Site at Almaden Research Center". http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/people/fagin/. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
12. ^ Centrella, Heidi R. (2004). "Alumni Raising Funds for Northwest Classen High School". The Journal Record of Oklahoma City. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_20040426/ai_n10161751. Retrieved 2008-01-23. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "Biographies of Oklahoma City Mayors". Oklahoma City. https://www.okc.gov/council/okcmayors/index.html. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
14. ^ "Elizabeth Warren: An Okie in Washington riles Wall Street". The Daily Oklahoman. 1 August 2010. http://newsok.com/elizabeth-warren-an-okie-in-washington-riles-wall-street/article/3481388. Retrieved 29 September 2010. 
15. ^ "Wall of Fame Honorees". The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools. http://www.okckids.com/programs/wofinductees.asp. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
16. ^ "2007 Oklahoman of the Year". Oklahoma Today Magazine. http://www.oklahomatoday.com/site/PressReleases/VinceGill.aspx. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
17. ^ "Sean O'Grady Professional Profile". NAI Sullivan Group. http://www.naisullivangroup.com/agentdetail.asp?AgentID=11. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
18. ^ ^{a b c} "Color Me Badd Official MySpace Profile". MySpace. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=177403799. Retrieved 2008-09-14. ^{[dead link]}
19. ^ "Darnell Jackson". Scout.com. http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=447276. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 

External links

• Official Website
• District site
• Alumni Association
• Facebook Page (Created by Alumni)
• Alumni/Faculty/Current Students' Community