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Northwestern High School
7000 Adelphi Rd, Hyattsville, MD, 20782-1497 -  Map
tel: (301)985-1820
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School Overview:
Definition of Terms Northwestern High School
School Level Middle school
School Type Other/alternative school
Grades Offered Grades
County Prince George's County, MD
Students & Faculty
Total Students 142 students
% Male / % Female 61%  /  39%
Total Classroom Teachers n/a
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 24 students
Grade 10 - 28 students
Grade 11 - 20 students
Grade 12 - 70 students
This School ( MD ) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio n/a 1:16
Students by Ethnicity
This School ( MD ) School Average
% American Indian 1% n/a
% Asian 1% 5%
% Hispanic 26% 8%
% Black 63% 40%
% White 9% 46%
Additional Student Information
This School ( MD ) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch n/a 23%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch n/a 8%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a n/a
School Performance:
( MD ) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Prince Georges County Public s School District
This School's Agency ( MD ) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 205 27
Number of Students Managed 142,569 students 16,524 students
District Total Revenue $1,541,245,000 $159,214,000
District Expenditure $1,508,181,000 $153,923,000
District Revenue / Student $10,811 $9,539
District Expenditure / Student $10,579 $9,315
School Notes:
  • Northwestern High School is a public comprehensive secondary school located in Hyattsville, Maryland in Prince George's County. It is part of the Prince George's County Public Schools system. Two middle schools (Hyattsville Middle School and Nicholas Orem Middle School) feed into Northwestern as well as nine elementary schools which are part of the Northwestern cluster of schools.
  • Northwestern houses a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and operates an Evening High School for the Northern half of the county as well as a Saturday High School program. Northwestern hosts a very popular Saturday-run "ISP Flea Market" that is sponsored by the school's International Studies Program (ISP). NHS is an official county site for conducting the nationally administered SAT college assessment exams.
  • Northwestern is home to the county-wide COLOURS Performing Arts Program and serves as host to the annual county-wide Middle/High School Chorus Festival and Band Festival that showcases school choirs and bands in the PGCPS. Northwestern also served as host school for Gateway Music Festival's Washington, DC national choir competition in 2003 and hosted the 2004 Maryland All-State Band Festival.
  • History: Northwestern was founded in 1951 as a public senior high school.
  • Beginning in the 1960s, several additions were added to the original school in different stages. By the year 2000, Northwestern comprised of a long "main wing" with three "wings" branching out like fingers attached to it. These wings 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 gymnasium, and band/orchestra/chorus rooms were all located at the rear of the building as well. The C-wing was accessible to the B-wing by a long suspended enclosed bridge that could only be reached from the second floor.
  • 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 dollar facility was proposed. Construction of the new school began in late summer of 1998, the new facility located directly behind the old building, thus becoming the first new high school constructed in Prince George's County since Eleanor Roosevelt High School was completed back in 1978. Two years later in August 2000, the new Northwestern High School was completed. Except for the auditorium, which was completely overhauled and transformed into Building D of the new school, the old building was razed.
  • The school is currently has over 1,100 computers, more than any high school in Maryland.
  • Northwestern as of 2006: At 386,000 sq. ft., Northwestern High School has a capacity of 2,400 students, while current enrollment approaches 2,700. Until 2006, Northwestern was officially the largest high school in Maryland when measured by square footage, a distinction that has since been given up to the brand new Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School, a new school located in Southern Prince George's County. Northwestern is divided into four distinct "sub-buildings" connected by a main hallway and a "Skywalk" which features a tiered three-story design. The four main academic sections 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, including the gymnasium, main cafeteria, and library.
  • The Sub-Buildings: Building A. Houses mostly core subject classes; most Business Education courses are also found in this building.
  • Building B/G. Houses most Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors courses. Limited foreign language courses are also taught in this building.
  • Building C -- Core Facility. Houses most elective classes. Fine Arts, Health Education, and limited core subjects are found on the 1st floor, along with the College & Career Center. Most administrative offices are found on the 2nd floor, including the main entrance to Northwestern, the Health & Wellness Center [see below], the princpal's office, and the school's main office. are located on this floor as well. The 3rd floor houses most foreign language classes, keyboarding courses, and some core subject courses.
  • Building D/E/F -- Jim Henson School of Arts, Media, and Communications. This building is the largest sub-building at NHS. The school's state-of-the-art auditorium, with a capacity for 1,100 spectators on two levels, is labeled Building D. Directly behind the auditorium is Building E/F. While this building houses a few core course classes on the 3rd floor, the majority of the classes in this building are Fine and Performing Arts courses. This building has a 250-seat Choir Room, Band Room, private music practice rooms, a dance studio, an advanced, state-of-the-art television production studio, computer labs equipped with DELL equipment running Windows XP, and several specialized iMac-equipped computer graphics labs. In 2003, an official naming ceremony featuring Jim Henson's family, took place to rename and designate the D/E/F Building as the "Jim Henson School of Arts, Media, and Communication".
  • Athletic services: In addition to the football stadium, which can accommodate the entire student population, there are also two softball/baseball fields (one at either side of the football field) and a large tennis court. The gymnasium is currently the second largest gynmasium in Prince George's County; the facility is able to seat over half the school's population. When the bleachers are retracted, the gymnasium is able to provide three full-sized basketball courts for practice and play. It was widely rumored that the new school was to feature, amongst other things, an indoor swimming pool, but it did not come to fruition for various reasons.
  • Northwestern Health & Wellness Center: The Health & Wellness Center is a joint venture between Northwestern High School and the Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Maryland. When the original Health & Wellness Center was founded back in the mid-90s in the old building, it was the first of its kind in PGCPS. Two other centers have since been established more recently in other area schools.
  • The Health Center is located across from the Main Administrative Offices (Room C207) and combines the Health and Wellness Center and the Health Suite in one location.
  • The Health and Wellness Center provides basic health, counseling, education and prevention services in support of Northwestern students' academic and social success. Services include physical examinations, tests and treatment for infections and transmittable diseases, immunizations and well-baby care, mental health counseling and health behavior education. All students and infant/toddlers of teen parents enrolled in the Adolescent Teen Parenting Program are eligible to receive confidential primary health care services and treatment. The emphasis is on health promotion, disease prevention and self-care.
  • Services are provided at no direct charge to students or parents/guardians, except when appropriate to bill enrollee's insurance company or medical assistance.
  • Foreign Language: Students must satisfy a 2 year foreign language requirement in order to receive a state diploma. Northwestern offers one of the most expansive foreign language programs of any high school in Prince George's County. Students can take courses in Spanish, Latin, French, Japanese, German, and Italian. AP level courses are available in Spanish, French, and Latin.
  • Arts: One Arts credit is required for graduation; students may satisfy this requirement with a Fine and Visual Arts or Performing Arts class.
  • In Fine & Visual Arts, students can take courses such as Art 1-4, Computer Graphics 1 & 2, and Television Production. Advanced-level courses include Honors Art, AP Studio Art, AP Art History, and AP Computer Graphics.
  • Northwestern's expansive performing arts programs offers vocal music courses such as Concert Choir, Advanced Chorus/Chamber Choir, Gospel Choir, and Show Choir. The instrumental music program offers Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, String Orchestra, Jazz Band, Steel Band, Marching Band, and numerous small ensembles. Other non-performance based music courses include Music Theory, Musicianship, and Music Survey. Northwestern's Instrumental and Vocal music programs have prospered through the years. Under the direction of Mr. Townes, the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra have consistently received Excellent and Superior ratings at local, state, and national adjudications. Under the direction of Mrs. Leona Lowery-Hawkins who has been with NHS since 1997, the choir program consists of a Concert Choir, Advanced Chorus/Chamber Choir, Gospel Choir, and Show Choir. The Concert, Advanced, and Gospel Choirs have all received numerous superior ratings at local, state, and national venues. The Choirs participate yearly in nationwide and international choral competitions, consistently bringing home multiple 1st place/Superior honors for seven of the last eight years. The Choir most recently particapated in the Heritage Festivals Willamsburg competition where the Choir took 1st Place in all categories including the coveted Grand Championship Trophy for Best Choral Music Program. The Choirs have received 1st Place honors in competitions in Chicago, IL (1999); Myrtle Beach, SC (2001); New Orleans, LA (2002); Baltimore, MD (2003); New York City, NY (2004); Atlanta, GA (2005); and Williamsburg, VA (2006). The Concert Choir was most recently featured on a televised production on NBC's Washington, DC station, Channel 4.
  • Other Courses: Students must take one half credit each of P.E. and Health Issues. Other various elective course offers in Family & Consumer Sciences, Health Education, Business Education (including Computer Science, and Physical Education are offered. Students can take classes such as Food Trends & Technology, Food & Nutrition, Keyboarding, and Dance.
  • NJROTC: Northwestern also has an NJROTC (Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) program. The NJROTC program provide secondary school students the opportunity to become informed, responsible citizens through a military environment. Sixty percent of the curriculum focuses on development of academic areas including United States military history, national security, meteorology, astronomy, aerospace vehicles and environment (aircraft, rocketry satellite, and spacecraft), management, communications, survival, navigation, and physical fitness. Forty percent of class time is spent in developing leadership skills and military courtesies and customs. Enrichment activities include before or after school color guard and drill practice, summer leadership school, camps, and naval cruises. The program also provides college scholarship opportunities and Military Academy appointments for qualified individuals. Students who successfully complete three years of the JROTC program and qualify to enter the active duty military service may be paid two grades above non-JROTC recruits.
  • Sub-Schools & Academy Programs: Northwestern High School offers several specialized programs in addition to the core curriculim mandated by the Prince George's County Public Schools system. Each building at Northwestern host at least one sub-school and one or more academy programs. Northwestern offers more academies than any other high school in Prince George's County. The various programs are:
  • Jim Henson School of Arts, Media, and Communications : Academy of Visual Arts, Academy of Vocal Arts, Academy of Instrumental Music, Academy of Arts & Humanities.
  • School of Business and Finance: National Academy of Finance.
  • School of Health and BioScience: Academy of Medical Science.
  • School of Human Resource Services: Criminal Justice Academy, International Studies Academy, NJROTC Academy.
  • School of Technology and Manufacturing: Project Lead the Way Pre-Engineering Academy.
  • School of Sales and Marketing (Future Academy: Entreprenuership and Marketing Academy.
  • School of Hospitality and Tourism (Future Academy): Academy of Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Managemet Academy.
  • Magnet Program (Former): In the mid-1990s Northwestern housed the University of Maryland Collaborative Project continuation magnet program for students who were enrolled in the Science, Mathematics, and Technology Magnet Program at Nicholas Orem Middle School. The program allowed the University of Maryland, College Park to share resources with NHS and for students in the program to work interdependently with the University of Maryland's flagship College Park campus, which is only about a mile away from NHS. Due to the court-ordered restructing of PGCPS magnet programs, several magnets were eliminated in 2003 including Northwestern's and Nicholas Orem's.
  • Visual and Performing Arts Center: In 2003, Northwestern was slated (by former school district superintendent Iris T. Metts) to become a "Visual and Performing Arts Center" (VPA) Magnet School in Fall 2004 for the northern area of the county. This decision was based largely on (1) the new building and its huge fine/performing arts wing, (2) the tremendous successes of NHS's award-winning choirs, bands, and orchestra, and (3) feeder school Hyattsville Middle becoming a "Creative and Performing Arts" Magnet that same year. This announcement was made during the official naming ceremony for the schools D/E/F Building in honor of Jim Henson. Northwestern would have joined Suitland High School in the Southern part of the county as a VPA Magnet School.
  • However, the addition of the VPA Magnet at Northwestern has been delayed indefinitely. This delay was partly due to severe budget contraints on the school system. Further, the system under Metts' successor, Dr. Andre J. Hornsby, faced increasing pressure from the state to overhaul the county's hallmark magnet programs, which were created in the 1980s by a court mandate to end racial segregation in Prince George's County schools, since racial segregation was ruled no longer an issue in the now predominantly African-American county.
  • Athletics: Northwestern High School sports teams are called the Wildcats. The Wildcats sports teams compete in the Prince George's Athletic Conference North Division, and are a part of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA). Northwestern is a class 4A school, which are those in the upper one-fourth of schools in the state by enrollment.
  • The Wildcats have a long and illustrious sports history. Over the years, Northwestern teams have produced 13 team state championships, as well as numerous regional and county championships. A number of student-athletes have also won numerous individual state championships in sports such as track & field and wrestling. The most recent team state championship came in 2004 for boys' basketball, led by current Georgetown University starter Jeff Green. Northwestern has also produced other well known athletes, including Len Bias.
  • State Championships: 1956: Boys Basketball, 1957: Boys Track & Field, 1958: Boys Track & Field, 1967: Boys Basketball, 1968: Boys Basketball, 1973: Boys Cross Country, 1973: Boys Soccer, 1979: Girls Basketball, 1987: Boys Basketball, 1987: Girls Indoor Track, 1995: Boys Soccer, 1999: Boys Track & Field, 2004: Boys Basketball.
  • Northwestern offers a wide variety of varsity and junior varsity sports programs.
  • Boys Varsity Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor Track, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling.
  • Girls Varsity Sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball.
  • Communities served by Northwestern: Northwestern High School serves students from the cities of Hyattsville and Mount Rainier, the towns of Brentwood, North Brentwood, Riverdale, and University Park, and the communities of Lewisdale and West Hyattsville.
  • Students from portions of the city of College Park and some areas considered to be Adelphi also attend Northwestern.
  • Feeder patterns and admissions: Hyattsville is fed directly by the Northwestern Cluster of Schools (see below).
  • There is no admissions process (i.e. pre-entrance examination) for students to attend Northwestern. Students must live in the designated zoned attendance area for NHS. In 8th grade, middle school students who will be attending Northwestern freshman year must complete a form which reflects which of the ten academy programs they will be interested in enrolling in. Certain academies have specific requirements, however, that students need to satisfy in order to apply for that program.
  • Northwestern Cluster of Schools: Northwestern High School, Hyattsville -- Grades 9-12.
  • Hyattsville Middle School, Hyattsville -- Grades 7-8 (Creative & Performing Arts Magnet School).
  • Hyattsville Elementary School, Hyattsville -- Grades K-6.
  • Mount Rainier Elementary School, Mt. Rainier -- Grades K-6.
  • Thomas S. Stone Elementary School, Mt. Rainier -- Grades K-6.
  • University Park Elementary School, University Park -- Grades K-6.
  • Nicholas Orem Middle School, Hyattsville -- Grades 6-8.
  • César Chávez Elementary School, Hyattsville -- Grades K-6.
  • Chillum Elementary School, Hyattsville -- Grades K-6.
  • Lewisdale Elementary School, Hyattsville -- Grades PreK-5.
  • Rosa L. Parks Elementary School, Hyattsville -- Grades PreK-6.
  • Ridgecrest Elementary School, Hyattsville -- Grades PreK-6.
  • Notable alumni: Jim Henson, Creator of "The Muppets".
  • John Fahey, Guitarist.
  • Len Bias, Basketball player.
  • Jeff Green, Basketball player.
  • Leigh Bodden, NFL Player (Cleveland Browns).
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
  • Add information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (20782)
School Zip (20782) (MD) State Average
Population (Approximate) 28,764 people 5,071,990 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 31% 32%
Population Average Age 33 years old 36.0 years old
Average Household size 2.6 persons 2.5 persons
Median Household Income $43,783 $52,064
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 4.5 rooms 6.0 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 50 years old 42 years old
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Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (20782)



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  Nearby Schools:
1. Nicholas Orem Middle School - 763 students - view location
2. William Wirt Middle School - 964 students - view location
3. Buck Lodge Middle School - 776 students - view location
4. Langley Park/mccormick Elementary School - 514 students - view location
5. Hyattsville Middle School - 831 students - view location
View all schools in: Hyattsville Town, Prince George's County, Zip 20782 
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

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