Niwot High School

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Niwot High School (NHS) is a public high school, located on Niwot Road in Niwot, Colorado under the jurisdiction of the St. Vrain Valley School District. Niwot High School aspires to provide educational experiences that inspire academic excellence, personal growth and social responsibility. Above all else, Niwot High School accepts the responsibility for providing a safe and positive environment, a challenging academic program, activities that promote discovery of diverse interests and abilities, an atmosphere of respect and trust, and opportunities of responsibility.

Niwot High School is a 4A school, which enrolls around 1,200 students, and functions as the district's magnet school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Primarily, graduates of Sunset Middle School often continue their education at Niwot High School. Though, the school also attracts students throughout the district to participate in the International Baccalaureate program, creating a tightly knit subclass of students ranging from approximately 55 to 100 students. Typically, each class graduates about 300 students.

First opened in 1972, Niwot High School is situated about halfway between the cities of Boulder and Longmont in the small-unincorporated town of Niwot. Niwot is characterized by a beautiful campus including a large community athletic complex, large student commons area, and comprehensive Student Services Center, all complemented by an amazing scenic view of the Rocky Mountains.

School goals at Niwot High School focus on reading, writing, and math with course offerings to meet the needs of students at all levels. Each year, students will demonstrate incremental improvement in the three focused areas. Specifically, by 2008, 93% of 9th and 10th grade students will be reading at the proficient level, 92% in writing, and 89% in mathematics. The Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) scores will be used to indicate proficiency percentages.

In an effort to achieve these goals, the high school staff continues to maintain a focus on language arts and mathematics while continuing to meet with middle school teachers to ensure vertical alignment across all of the core curricular areas. Additionally, a common writing rubric based on Six-Traits is utilized across all content areas.

Classes at NHS operate on a Day 1, Day 2, block schedule.

Regular Block Schedule:
Block 1/5	7:20 am to 8:50 am
Block 2/6	9:00 am to 10:35 am
Block 3/7	10:45 am to 12:53 pm
Block 4/8	12:53 pm to 2:23 pm

There are also two separate lunch times for students. Students are assigned lunch times according to third block teachers, though there is no specific order for which teachers have what lunch period. A lunch starts at 10:35 am to 11:13 am, while B lunch begins at 12:15 pm and ends at 12:53 pm.

Currently, Niwot High School offers a variety of courses in the following subjects:

Art	Family Studies	Music
Business	Foreign Language	Physical Education
Career Development Center (CDC)	General Electives	Science
Drama	HILT	Social Studies
English	Math	Technology

Notably, Niwot High School has a widely recognized music department. The school's music department is split into sub departments of Orchestra, Band, and Choir. The most notable group is the Symphonic Orchestra, whom was invited to take part in the 2007 National Orchestra Cup where they took 3rd Place against the top youth orchestras in the nation. The String Orchestra is a more relaxed group, being a non-audition group, consisting of only string players. Among the other instrumental groups are the jazz bands and the band. In the jazz department there are three groups, advanced jazz (Jazz I), intermediate jazz (Jazz II), and the recently added beginner jazz (Jazz III). The Cougar Marching Band is one of the most visible groups in the school, performing at all home football games. The Symphonic Band is the no-audition concert band group, and the most recent addition; the Wind Ensemble is the top concert band. The choir section of the department also has several groups, most notably Sedalia (the all female choir), Evenstar (the jazz choir), and Chamber Singers (the classical choir). An after school choir known as Cantible provides vocal students with a chance to sing eight-part a capella.

Athletically, Niwot High School is proud to be home of such distinguished athletes. NHS's local high school rivals include Longmont High School, Skyline High School, and Silver Creek High. Home of the Cougars, Niwot's high school colors are Kelly Green, Silver, and Black. Though, at most athletic and social events, students typically wear camouflage apparel to their avid school spirit. Niwot's football team has made it to the 3A Playoffs in 2001, 2004, 2005, and in 2002, made it to the 4A playoffs as well. Meanwhile, the Niwot baseball team has won the 4A State Championships in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2005. Not to mention, the Cougars were also recognized as Legion A State Champs in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Other outstanding athletic programs that Niwot offers include:

Girls'/Boys' Volleyball

Girls'/Boys' Basketball

Girls'/Boys' Swimming

Girls'/Boys' Soccer

Girls'/Boys' Tennis

Track and Field

Cross Country

Cheerleading

Girls' Softball

Gymnastics

Golf

Aside from sports, Niwot also encourages numerous extra curricular alternatives such as:

South Paw Newspaper	FRICH Newspaper
Yearbook	Student Council
Flag Team	Dance Team
Forensics	FIRST Robotics (team #1552)
Habitat for Humanity	Amnesty International
National Honor Society	Knowledge Master team
Drama	Tech Crew
Odyssey of the Mind( OM)	Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)

...just to name a few!

Furthermore, Niwot High School also has an education foundation. The NHS Education Foundation is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization founded in 1994 on the principle that our children are our most precious resource. Charged with the mission of enhancing and enriching student learning, NHSEF contributes to every student in the NHS community through mini-grants, major grants, fellowships, scholarships, and departmental awards. Through fundraising efforts, as well as corporate and individual donations, the Foundation has distributed annually, an average in excess of $22,000 over the last five years. To become involved in the Foundation, contact Niwot High School. Donations are accepted directly or through United Way at www.unitedwayfoothills.org by clicking on "ways to give" and the "individual giving".

Contact Information:

Address: 8989 E. Niwot Road Niwot, CO 80501

Main Office: (303) 652-2250

Attendance: (303) 652-9098

Fax: (303) 652-2003