- Newton North High School (formerly Newton High School) is the larger and longer-established of two public high schools in Newton, Massachusetts, with about 2000 students. It is located in the village of Newtonville. The other public high school in the city is Newton South High School.
- The school is currently undergoing a controversial reconstruction of its facility, that will make it the most expensive high school ever built in Massachusetts, with a price tag of nearly USD$200 million.
- Physical Plan
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At the center of Newton North High School is a main hallway called "Main Street" which stretches for about 150 meters (415'); it is the center of life at Newton North. The school is divided into four houses distinguishing each class year. Classes stay with one house for all four years. Color schemes are used to distinguish each house. Coloring extends to lockers and stairways, but is not used to distinguish class years.
- Newton North has a student-run restaurant (the Tiger's Loft) and art department located on the fourth floor as well as the SOA (Simulated Outdoor Area) gym; the third floor holds the photography room (with an extensive darkroom) and TV studio; the second floor (Main Street) has the Little Theater, library, dance studio; the first floor holds the pool and gyms, the Graphic Arts department (which supplies the school with nearly all of its posters and flyers, as well as all of the teachers' photocopies), Auto Shop, Drafting, Carpentry, the theatre and music departments (see below for more information on Theatre Ink), the Lasker Auditorium, and Plowshares (the preschool where Child Development students spend some of their class time).
- Reconstruction plans
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The current Newton North building is approximately 35 years old and is built with red bricks. The school district plans to replace this at a cost of $197.5 million, making this the most expensive high school ever built in the state. A project consultant has explained that the project's relatively high cost is partly due to such unusual elements as glazed roofing over the cafeteria and a bermed embankment along the school's Hull Street property boundary. More extravagant additions, such as a student movie theater and multiple cafeterias are reflective of the amount of money a community like Newton is willing to pay, even in the current economic recession of 08-09.
- The plan, for which foundations have been poured, is for a new building oriented on a north-south axis on the eastern side of the current lot with athletic fields to the west and a soccer field on the east side. A new main entrance would be accessible from Walnut Street. The proposal would place the school office in a more accessible location and ensure that most classrooms have natural light and windows to the outside.
- At a public hearing in June 2006, community residents criticized the plan for its cost and for creating a dangerous new four-way intersection at Walnut Street and Trowbridge Avenue. Others claimed the proposed north-south orientation and lack of a basement level would waste energy as compared to the current structure. Nonetheless, after a public referendum and vote in January, 2007, Newton residents approved the current plan for a new building. A May 2008 petition drive to repeal the school's funding, started by Alan J. Mayer and Scott Buquor, gathered over 1,500 signatures but failed to reach the level necessary to make funding repeal a citywide ballot initiative.
- The new building will be the most expensive new school in Massachusetts. Architect Graham Gund designed the new building, however he pulled out of the project and it was taken over by Dore and Whittier Architects. Dimeo Construction Company is acting as the construction manager for the project.
- Academics
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Newton North offers classes ranging from regular academic courses to technical and vocational training. Non-standard courses range from video production to architecture to automobile repair. Recent budgetary constraints led to the cutting of Russian language classes. It currently holds the 18th position on Boston Magazine's annual rankings of high schools.
- Newton North's Science Team has entered National and Regional competitions. Starting in the 1990s, the team's Science Bowl team won the State, placing 3rd nationally in 1993. In recent years, they have won the Science Olympiad State competition in 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2009, which has allowed them to go to the national competition, representing Massachusetts.
- Partnerships
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The Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program is the oldest exchange of public secondary school students between the United States and the People's Republic of China. The city of Newton hosts students and teachers for four months each fall and sends students and teachers to Beijing each spring.
- Other international exchange programs include trips to France, Spain, and Italy. The North students typically go overseas in February, while the international students come to the US in April.
- Athletics
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Newton North competes in the Bay State league with other suburban Boston public schools.
- Since 1894, the boys' football team has played rival Brookline High School in the traditional Thanksgiving Day Game. This is one of the oldest high school football rivalries in Massachusetts.
- The track teams at Newton High/Newton North have remained consistently one of the top teams in the state since the inception of state-level competition. Beginning with Newton High School's first state title in 1922, the boys track teams have won the Division I / Class A state championship twenty-four times outdoors and fifteen times indoors, including Newton High School's record streak of eight in a row (1952-1959). Massachusetts added an additional all-state meet including all divisions in the 1960's outdoors and 1980's indoors; Newton North has subsequently won all-state titles in 1977, 2002, 2004, and 2005. The 2004-2005 season featured both Division I and All-State titles in cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track which completed a “Triple Crown” of championships. That year also featured a victory at the Penn Relays in the high school distance medley championship, which was the first relay victory by a Massachusetts high school in almost 50 years. Newton High/Newton North athletes have won a high school national title (Warren Wittens in the 1936 intermediate hurdles) an NCAA title (Carl Shine in the 1959 shotput) and run a four-minute mile equivalent (Tom Carleo ran 3:41 for 1500 and competed at the 1988 Olympic trials).
- Not to be outdone, the Newton North girls track teams have had their share of championships as well, winning Division I / Class A titles in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2004 and 2005. Their top scoring athlete at state competition, Tanya Jones, won eleven individual Division I championships in the 300, 400, high jump, and long jump, and is the only athlete from either Newton North or Newton South high schools to score over 100 points at the state division / class meet level. Post high school, distance star Liz Natale finished 2nd at the 1986 NCAA Division I championship in the 3000m and was an All-American six times for University of Texas.
- In 2004, the boys and girls track teams won respective Division I / Class A state indoor titles with exact same score (52 points).
- The boys' basketball team won the Division 1 State Championship in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. According to schoolsports.com, it was ranked 12 in the nation for the '05-'06 season.
- From 1997-2000, Newton North's boys gymnastics team won four consecutive state championships, with notable gymnasts Ginggi Storer, Elliot Servais, James Northrup and Jacky Wu capturing State Gymnasts of the Year throughout that stretch.
- In the spring of 2002, the tennis team won the Division 1 State Championship. The following year, they lost in a heartbreaking semifinal match against Lexington.
- The boys' lacrosse team won three state championships from the years 1992-1996, ranking as one of the top teams in the country. Alumnus Michael Battista played professional lacrosse for the Boston Cannons and was a fan favorite due to his local roots.
- The boys' soccer team played in the state finals in 2001.
- In 2007, the boys' volleyball team won the South Sectional Title and made it to the state finals.
- In 2005-06, the boys' football team won the Bay State league championship and went on to the division 1A state championship super bowl.
- In 2006, the girls' volleyball team won the Central-East Sectional and made it to the state finals.
- In the spring of 2007, boy's tennis doubles team Dan Razulis (junior) and Mike Greene (senior) won the MIAA State Doubles tournament.
- During the 2007- 2008 winter season the boys' swim and dive team went undefeated (5-0) in their league dual meets, giving them the title of Bay State Conference Champions, but finished in second place in the 6 team BSC Conference meet 10.5 points behind Needham High School. The next year (2008-2009 Winter season) the Tigers would once again go undefeated and defended their title by defeating the Needham team decisively in their last meet of the regular season. The all conference meet will be held on February 5 in Brookline.
- History
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In the 1850s, high school classes in Newton were conducted in buildings shared with grammar schools in the villages of Newton Centre, West Newton, Upper Falls, and Newton Corner. In 1859, Newton's population topped 8000 residents for the first time, a threshold that required the town under Massachusetts state law to construct a separate high school.
- Newton High School's first principal was Mr J.N. Beals, for whom the current Beals House was named. Beals also served as one of new school's two teachers along with Miss Amy Breck. Beals left the job for health reasons after only one year and was replaced by Mr. E. D. Adams, for whom the current Adams House was named.
- The first Newton High School building, located on Walnut Street in Newtonville, opened in September 1859. The original building was modified in 1875. In 1898, the original building was replaced with a new building, also on Walnut Street. This building, The Classical Newton High School, eventually became known as Building I. The next building (Building II, circa 1906) was the Vocational High School and the third building of the Newton High School complex (Building III) opened in 1926 on Walnut Street. A field house/gymnasium building (also known as “the drill shed”) adjacent to Building I, was also part of the complex, as were the athletic fields. Newton High School was Newton’s only public high school for more than 100 years until 1960 when Newton South High School opened. Newton High School was renamed Newton North High School in 1973 when a new building opened on Lowell Avenue. The first graduating class as "Newton North High School" was in the spring of 1974. After Newton North was built, all of the “Newton High School” buildings were demolished. Newton North High School is the successor to the original Newton High School.
- House System
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The school has long been divided into administrative units called 'Houses'. In the period of its largest population (~3000 students in the 1960s and later), there were six Houses: Adams, Bacon, Barry, Beals, Palmer, and Riley. Each had its own office, staff, student commons room, teachers' lounge, and Housemaster - the equivalent of a Principal for that house. Houses were named for notable former principals, such as J.N. Beals and E.D. Adams.
- The House system provided better communication, distributed administration, more personal attention to individuals, a smaller peer group for students, more practical social events, and even intra-house athletic teams. Today there are four houses; Beals, Barry, Riley and Adams. House-specific students commons room and teachers' lounges no longer exist at North.
- Riley House
- Housemaster: Mark Aronson
- House Secretary: Maura Roberts
- Class of 2010
- Beals House
- Housemaster: Michelle Stauss
- House Secretary: Cheryl Stover
- Class of 2011
- Adams House
- Housemaster: James D'Orazio
- House Secretary: Lorene Shapiro
- Class of 2012
- Barry House
- Housemaster: Aaron Sanders
- House Secretary: Karen Tobin
- Class of 2013
- Palmer House
- No longer used
- Bacon House
- No longer used
- Tiger Magazine
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Tiger Magazine is Newton North's video production class' bi-weekly cable television program. The show - created by Lynn Rossman, Newton North's Video Production teacher - airs on Newton's NewTV local cable station.
- The content of the program is generally a mixture of comedy pieces, news and community based documentary, as well as experimental and dramatic video works. Several Tiger Magazine alumni have gone on to pursue careers in the film industry, and numerous pieces originally aired on Tiger Magazine have won awards in local and national video contests.
- Theatre Ink
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Theatre Ink is Newton North's theatre department. Students are highly active in Theatre Ink, working as directors, stage managers, student producers, designers and in various backstage roles, in addition to onstage roles.
- Theatre Ink uses two performance spaces, the 699-seat Henry Lasker Auditorium, which is a standard proscenium theatre, and The Little Theatre, a roughly 200-seat theatre-in-the-round. The Little Theatre was originally intended for use as a television production studio. The department is chaired by Adam Brown.
- A typical season has several productions:
- approximately three to five student-directed shows, one of which is often a May musical. Students apply to direct in pairs in the spring of their junior year to direct a show in their senior year.
- a "big" March musical in Lasker Auditorium. Past musicals include Les Miserables (2003), My Fair Lady (2004), Bye Bye Birdie (2005), Chicago (2006), West Side Story (2007), Grease (2008), Anything Goes (2009), and Cabaret (2010)
- performances by the school's improvisation troupe called Spontaneous Generation (nicknamed SponGen), which also competes in the Providence Improv Festival
- a Shakespeare collaboration with Newton South's theatre department, South Stage. Past shows include Twelfth Night (2004), Henry IV, Part 1 (2005), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2006), The Tempest (2007), Romeo and Juliet (2008), and Macbeth (2009)
- Nitrous Oxide, the school's sketch comedy troupe.
- the Playwrights' Festival, an evening of short plays written, directed and performed by students.
- the Freshman Cabaret, a showcase featuring ninth graders. Freshman Cabaret is typically directed by sophomores.
- A Contemporary Musical Theatre Troupe
- Theatre Ink's 2009-2010 Season includes:
- A Streetcar Named Desire (October), directed by Inez Dover +
- Twentieth Century (November), directed by Julie Mandel-Folly and Ingrid Rudie*
- Caligula (December), directed by Seth Simons and Chris-Annas Lee*
- Freshman Cabaret (January), directed by Caleb Bromberg, Madeline Cetlin, Pamela Chen and Sonya Douglas*
- All My Sons (February), directed by Jordan Ascher and Jen Diamond*
- Cabaret (March), directed by Kirsten McKinney
- Spontaneous Generation (April), directed by Graham Techler and Mercer Gary*
- Comedy of Errors (May), produced and performed in partnership with Newton South High School
- Nitrous Oxide (May), directed by Jordan Ascher, Seth Simons, and Chris Annas Lee*
- The Playwright's Festival (May), directed by Jordan Ascher and Seth Simons*
- A Celebration of the Lasker Auditorium (June)
- An asterisk (*) denotes a student-directed production.A cross (+) denotes a show that has already been performed.
- All sets, lights, and sound for productions are student-designed and student-built. Theatre Ink's Stage Crew operates under the guidance of Technical Director Michael Barrington-Haber, with Chris Annas Lee as Student Technical Director.
- MTV
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MTV is planning a new reality show featuring the automotive program starting in late 2011.
- Notable alumni
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Note: Alumni who graduated prior to 1974 are graduates of Newton High School
- Matt LeBlanc (1985), actor (Friends)
- Joe DeNucci (1955), boxer and state auditor
- James Remar (1971), actor ( Annihilation; Dexter)
- Andy MacDonald, pro skateboarder
- Louis C. K. (1985), actor, producer, director, comedian, and writer
- James Heywood (1985), founder of the ALS Therapy Development Foundation
- Stephen Heywood (1987), artist, builder, and subject of documentary So Much So Fast
- Florencia Lozano (1987), actress
- Elizabeth McCracken (1984), writer
- Sean Gullette (1986), actor, writer
- Marc D. Cappello (1991), New England Patriots Radio Producer
- Anne Dudek (1993), actress (House)
- Jim Corsi (1979), major league baseball player
- Seth Mnookin, writer (Vanity Fair)
- Dana Adam Shapiro (1991), writer (Icon, Spin and New York Times magazines)
- Amalie Benjamin (2000), Boston Red Sox beat reporter for The Boston Globe
- David Baron, former science reporter for National Public Radio
- Larissa Kelly, (1998), Jeopardy! champion and science fiction author
- Priyanka Chopra - Miss World 2000, Indian film actress
- Stephen Greenblatt (1960), literary critic, professor, pioneer of New Historicism
- Karen O'Connell (2000), winner of the 2008 Sandberg Medal for Excellence in Achievement
- Paul Peirce, (1995), professional basketball player
- External links
- Newton North High School
- "Adequate Yearly Progress" data Web page for the school at the state Department of Education Web site
- Newton North's main page at Great Schools Web site
- Newton North High School Building Project
- Theatre Ink Homepage
- Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program
- 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.
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