Nevada Union High School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Nevada Union High School
Grass Valley CA 95945, USA
Information
Principal	Marty Mathiesen
Enrollment	2,701
Faculty	300-600
Type	Public 4-year
Mascot	Miners
Color(s)	Blue and Gold
Established	1961
Homepage	http://www.nuhsd.org/schools/nuhs/

Nevada Union High School (NU) is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of California's capital, Sacramento. Situated between Nevada City and Grass Valley, the school serves those two incorporated cities and a large surrounding community. The Nevada Union High School district covers a huge geographic area with some students bussed in from as far as 55 miles away. NU was named a California Distinguished School in 1997 and in 1998 was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon High School. NUHS serves ninth through twelfth grade students with a current enrollment of 2,701 students. NUHS does not have an ethnically diverse student population, as 92.4% are Caucasian. It is, however, economically diverse with 6% of families qualifying for the Free and Reduced National School Lunch Program.

1 History
2 Student body
3 Athletics
4 Notable Alumni
5 Notes

[edit] History

Nevada Union opened in 1961 to serve the needs of Nevada City, Grass Valley, and the surrounding communities. Prior to Nevada Union, there were separate high schools in Grass Valley and Nevada City.

In the 2005-2006 school year, 242 of 602 seniors (40%) took the SAT, with average scores of 554 Critical Reading (~65th Percentile), 559 Math (~63rd Percentile), and 548 Writing (~68th Percentile).^[1] ^[2]

In the Fall of 2007, the Jazz band placed fifth in the double A division at the band festival in Fairfield.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Student body

Students who attend Nevada Union are not only from Grass Valley and Nevada City, they also commute from North San Juan, Penn Valley, Rough and Ready, Ceder Ridge, Chicago Park, Lake Wildwood, Oregon House, Brownsville, Colfax and Alta Sierra. ^[3]

[edit] Athletics

The NU mascot is the Miner with female teams referred to as the "Lady Miners". The school colors are officially Blue and Gold and the shades of those two colors have also changed over time.

Due to NU's relative success in several athletic programs, it has developed some significant rivalries that have changed over the years due to league realignments and changes in sports programs. A big rival in the 70's was Placer High School in nearby Auburn. In the 80's and 90's, Grant High School in Sacramento was considered the chief rival. Now that Grant High School is no longer in the same athletic league as NU, some consider Granite Bay High School a potential rival.

In 2005 the Nevada Union Football team won the first section title in more than a decade, placed 1st in the state of California and 19th in the United States. The final game was Nevada Union 47, West 6. This team was also said to be the best football team to ever come through Nevada Union.

[edit] Notable Alumni

Greg F. Anderson, Former Personal Trainer of Barry Bonds.
Sean Michael Beyer, formerly Sean Brakensiek, feature film director. ^[4]
Rich Brooks, Football Coach (University of Oregon, NFL Assistant Coach, now head coach of Kentucky Wildcats).
Hunter Burgan, bassist of the band AFI.
Alela Diane, Musician.
Spencer Havner, All-American Linebacker at UCLA.
Caitlin Collier, Assistant Women's Basketball Coach-UNLV.
Zach Helm, Feature Film Writer and Director (Stranger than Fiction, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium).
Joanna Newsom, Musician.
Rick Rossovich, Actor (The Terminator, Top Gun, Roxanne).
Gabe Ruediger, Mixed Martial Arts fighter, appeared on Spike Tv's The Ultimate Fighter, season 5.
Chris Senn, Pro Skater.