Niles West High School
Niles West High School, officially Niles Township High School West or NWHS, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago in the United States. It is part of Niles Township Community High School District 219, which also includes Niles North High School. Its school teams were originally the Indians, but this was later changed in 2001 to the Wolves. Its feeder middle schools are Lincoln Junior High School (located in Skokie), Fairview South School (located in Skokie), Lincoln Hall Middle School (located in Lincolnwood), Culver Middle School (located in Niles), and Park View School (located in Morton Grove).
Niles West High School | |
---|---|
Address | |
Niles West High School | |
5701 Oakton St , 60077 United States | |
Coordinates | 42.0244°N 87.7723°W |
Information | |
School type | public, comprehensive secondary |
Opened | 1959 |
School district | Niles Township High School District 219 |
NCES District ID | 1728530[1] |
Superintendent | Dr. Steven Isoye[2] |
NCES School ID | 172853002988[1] |
Principal | Dr. Karen Ritter |
Teaching staff | 170.85 (FTE)[1] |
Grades | 9-12[1] |
Gender | coed[1] |
Enrollment | 2,435 (2017-18)[3] |
Student to teacher ratio | 14.25[1] |
Campus type | City: small[1] |
Color(s) | red white[4] |
Athletics conference | Central Suburban League[4] |
Team name | Wolves[4] |
Rival | Niles North High School |
Newspaper | Niles West News |
Yearbook | Spectrum |
Website | http://www.niles-hs.k12.il.us/west/ |
History
Niles West High School sits on over an acre of land. The school opened in 1959.
In 1996, the Niles Township Federation of Teachers went on a strike for two weeks over negotiations with administrators. During that time numerous students staged a walkout and pledged their allegiance to Niles West. Strikes have also happened in 1979 and 1985 with similar results.
Academics
In 2007, Niles West had an average composite ACT score of 22.3, and graduated 93.2% of its senior class.[5] The average class size is 19.2.[5] In 2012, Newsweek ranked Niles West on its list of the Top 1000 Public Schools in the nation.
Recently, many 8th or 7th graders have been attending Niles West high school as part as an off-level program.[6] These 7th/8th graders have been arriving primarily from Fairview Middle School, a feeder school, but some kids have come from Park View Middle School or Lincoln Junior High School.
Student life
Activities
The "West Word" student newspaper has been awarded first place for seven years running, with special merit twice, by the American Scholastic Press Association Newspaper contest.[7] Starting in the 2010–2011 school year, the print newspaper was retired, renamed "Niles West News", and moved online.
Fine Arts
In April 2007, both Niles West and Niles North received the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network and National School Boards Association Award for excellence in arts education.[8]
In summer 2010, the Niles West High School Theatre Department performed at the 2010 American High School Theatre Festival in Scotland.[9]
Athletics
Niles West competes in the Central Suburban League and Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Teams are stylized as the Wolves.
Until the end of the 1999–2000 school year, the sports teams were known as Niles West Indians, a name which was changed to the Wolves so as not to offend Native Americans.[10]
Niles West sponsors interscholastic athletic teams for men and women in basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, water polo, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Men may also compete in baseball and football. Women can also compete on the wrestling team and may compete in softball. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors a Poms team for women.[11]
The baseball team has won two IHSA state championships (1971–72 and 1974–75).[12] The girls' basketball team won the IHSA state championship in 1978-79.[12]
Niles West Men's gymnastics also won the IHSA state championship for men's gymnastics in 2016.[13]
Notable alumni
- Bart Conner, gymnast
- Jeffrey Erickson, bank robber[14]
- Merrick Garland, jurist
- Jim Hart, football player
- George Kontos, baseball player
- George Kotsiopoulos, editor
- Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com [15]
- Jewell Loyd, basketball player
- Rashard Mendenhall, football player
- George Papadopoulos, policy adviser
- Todd Sucherman, drummer
- Azhar Usman, comedian
References
- "Niles West High School". Statistical analysis. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). October 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
- "D219 Superintendent". Curriculum vitae. Niles Township High School District 219. 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- "Niles West High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
- "Skokie (Niles West)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 27 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- Class of 2007 school report card Archived April 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Malek, Sonja. "Our Youngest Wolves: Middle School Mathematicians". Niles West News. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- "American Scholastic Press Association". Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- Kennedy Center: Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network
- "Skokienet.org". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- "Niles West High School's Team Name To Be Wolves". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- Niles West Athletic Department; accessed 11 April 2009
- "Skokie (Niles West) Season Summaries". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 3 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- Tribune, Chicago. "Showing how far they've come, Niles West gymnasts capture state title". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- Green, Michelle (March 2, 1992) "Bloody Ending to a Double Life", People. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/gkremen/