Northwestern High School (Hyattsville, Maryland)

Northwestern High School is a public comprehensive and magnet high school in Hyattsville, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. It is part of the Prince George's County Public Schools system. Northwestern High School is located on Adelphi Road, less than a mile away from the University of Maryland, College Park. The school first opened in 1951. In 2000, the original building was demolished and replaced with the current facility, which has of land and a capacity of 2,700 students.Garcia, German and Bryant, Kevina. "New Northwestern Ready for 2000!". The Paw Print, October 1999. Page 1. Northwestern is the second-largest high school in the state of Maryland when measured by total square footage.

Northwestern is one of two schools in the county to host the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) magnet program, which began at the school in the 2013–14 school year. The CVPA program is a four-year, specialized program that offers college prep and professional career prep study in the visual arts and performing arts. Admission to the program is through a competitive, two-stage application process. Northwestern's CVPA program operates as a "school-within-a-school" model, similar to a program that has been in existence at Suitland High School since 1986. Northwestern's program only draws students from a limited attendance area.

In December 2009, Northwestern was recognized as a Silver Medal School among "America's Best High Schools" by U.S. News & World Report.Best High Schools . U.S. News & World Report, 2009. In 2005, The Washington Post cited Northwestern as being the second highest ranking high school, among all district high schools, for students' scores on the nationally administered AP tests.

Northwestern is accredited by the Commission on Secondary Schools, a division of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

History

1951–2000 Northwestern Senior High School was founded in 1951 as a public secondary school. It was the consolidation of three schools: Hyattsville, Greenbelt, and Mount Rainier High Schools. Beginning in the 1960s, several additions were built, in stages, including what was called the new art wing. By the year 2000, Northwestern consisted of a long main wing with three wings branching out. These were referred to as the A-wing, B-wing, and C-wing. The cafeteria was located at the rear of the school on the second floor and attached to the C-wing.

The boys' gymnasium, girls' auxiliary gymnasium, and band, choir, and orchestra rooms were all located at the rear of the building. The C-wing was accessible to the B-wing by a long suspended enclosed bridge that could only be reached from the second floor.

A large field located between wings B and C was dubbed "The Senior Courtyard." Originally reserved exclusively for seniors to converge during lunch, this courtyard was eventually opened to the entire student body. Northwestern was one of the few schools to allow students outside during lunch, as most schools didn't have the proper accommodations to allow this.

The Justice Memorial Auditorium was part of the A-wing, and was the final addition to the original building. The A-wing was the only section of the old facility that had air conditioning.

Northwestern was converted from a grades 10-12 "senior high school" to a grades 9-12 "high school" configuration in 1981.

Construction of the new building

By the mid-1990s, Northwestern was beginning to show its age. A plan to replace the structure with a brand new $45 million facility was proposed. Prince George's County Public Schools contracted the SHW Group LLP to design and build the new school. Construction began in late summer of 1998, with the new facility located directly behind the old building. Students attended classes in the old building while construction took place only yards away. The new school was physically connected to the old building at the rear (stage area) of the auditorium. The new building officially opened to students and staff in August 2000, just in time for the school year. It was the first new high school constructed in Prince George's County since Eleanor Roosevelt High School was completed in 1976.

While it took two years to construct the new facility, the building was not actually fully finished until midway through the 2001–02 school year. Classes commenced at the new Northwestern before the former facility had been torn down. The large bus lot in front of the new building, and the main parking lot, had yet to be paved prior to the opening of the new building, because the old facility stood where these new areas were to be made. A few exterior portions of the new facility weren't finalized until 2002. Except for the auditorium, which was retained from the old building and was completely overhauled and transformed into the D-Wing of the new school, the old Northwestern was razed while classes were ongoing in the new building. The main parking lot for the new school lies where the former facility once stood.

2000-present By the opening of the new building in 2000, Northwestern had over six computer labs and over 1,100 computers, the most of any high school in Maryland; each classroom had a bank of at least five computers with internet access.

On October 5, 2002, the arts building at Northwestern was renamed to the Jim Henson School of Arts, Media and Communications to honor the late Jim Henson, the creator of The Muppets,Jim Henson School of Arts, Media & Communications The Jim Henson Legacy, Inc. who graduated from Northwestern in 1954. The official building dedication ceremony was attended by Jane and Heather Henson (Jim's widow and daughter, respectively), as well as representatives from the Jim Henson Legacy, who had given Northwestern permission to rename the arts building after Henson.

In 2005, Northwestern was the first high school in Prince George's County to implement a mandatory school uniform policy. The uniform consists of a white polo shirt, and navy/dark blue khaki pants, shorts, or skirt. There is no restriction on footwear.

Northwestern currently houses an Evening High School for the northern half of the county, as well as a Saturday High School program. Northwestern also hosts the very popular Saturday-run ISP Flea Market, sponsored by the school's International Studies Program.

Campus At , Northwestern High School has a capacity of 2,700 students, with a Fall 2013 enrollment of approximately 2,217. Northwestern's largest enrollment was reached during the 2006–2007 school year, with over 3,000 students. Northwestern had over twenty portable classrooms to accommodate the over-enrollment. Ironically, the school had never had portable trailers until after the new facility was built. Even though Northwestern's 2013-14 enrollment was under capacity, the school then housed twenty portable classrooms. The additional space was primarily needed to accommodate the expansive course offerings and programs available at the school.

Until 2006, Northwestern was officially the largest high school in Maryland when measured by square footage,Northwestern High School (2001). The 2001 Compass. Page 1. a distinction that has since been given up to the Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School and the Seneca Valley High School. However, with its student capacity of 2,700, Northwestern is still the largest high school by capacity in Prince George's County, and the second largest in Maryland after Montgomery Blair High School.

Northwestern's campus features three courtyards between the four wings of the building. The school has a total of five parking lots: the large main parking lot (located in front of the facility, where the former facility once stood) designated for staff and visitors; an adjacent lot located in front of the auditorium, reserved for staff and students; two smaller lots at the rear of the facility, reserved for staff or visitors attending athletic events; and a large bus bay capable of accommodating 44 school buses, located in front of the facility, which doubles as another lot for staff and visitors, during and after the regular school day.

The school has six tennis courts located just outside the auditorium to the east of the building and it has several basketball courts located at the rear of the building outside the food court, which have been decommissioned and now serves as an area which houses several of the school's portable classrooms. There are three athletic fields in the rear of the building: the football/soccer stadium, which also encompasses the running track which surrounds the football/soccer field; a softball field, and a baseball field.

Northwestern is divided into four distinct "sub-schools": the A-Wing, B/G-Wing, C-Wing, and D/E/F-Wing. Each can house between 600 and 700 students. The original plan was to physically divide the school into four smaller schools, hence the design theme of the building.Hummer, Alex. "A New Look at School Registration". The Paw Print, December 1999. Page 1. Sub-School A was intended to be the "School of Fine, Creative, and Performing Arts"; Sub-School B was to be the "School of Career and Consumer Education"; Sub-School C was to be a general facility that housed mainly elective courses, in addition the school's main offices, security office, and health center; and Sub-School D was to be "The School of Intensive and Specialized Instruction," which would house the school's honors and advanced placement program as well as the school's ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) program and Vocational Development (Special Education) program. Students were not to be permitted to interact with students from other sub-schools, and were to be isolated within their sub-school for the majority of the school day. Due to scheduling conflicts and feasibility issues with this concept, the idea was dropped before the new building ever opened, while the idea of smaller learning communities was retained and revised to become less restrictive and isolating.

The sub-schools are connected by a large, unique main hallway called the skywalk, which features a tiered three-story design. A person overlooking the third floor skywalk can see straight down to the first floor main hallway. The building features an artistic, colorful design theme using multiple variations of the colors blue, purple, teal, gray, and white. These were inspired largely by the official school colors, navy blue and white.

The four main academic sections of the building house specialized programs as part of Northwestern's initiative to provide smaller learning environments in which students can specialize in specific areas of study, similar to a college. Across the main hallway from the sub-buildings are other facilities encompassing the H, J, & K-Wings (there is no "I-Wing"), which includes the main gymnasium, auxiliary gymnasium, main cafeteria/food court (H-Wing), NJROTC unit and Child Development wing (K-Wing), and library/media center. The H, J, and K-Wings are not separate buildings like Wings A-F.

Another unique design feature of Northwestern is its three satellite cafeterias or commissaries, which supplement the main food court. There are commissaries in Wings A, B/G, and D/E/F.

There are three lecture halls with stadium seating which resemble classrooms typically found at large universities. These can seat 30-50 students. The auditorium, which constitutes the entire portion of the building referred to as the D-Wing, has a maximum capacity of 1,100.

Northwestern also has two high-capacity elevators restricted for personnel use only.

Athletic facilities

Northwestern's football and soccer stadium (previously known as the Prince George's County Memorial Stadium) can accommodate the entire student population, and has a modern, air-conditioned press box.