Northside College Preparatory High School

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Northside College Preparatory High School
Established 1999
Type Public (magnet) secondary
Principal Mr. Barry Rodgers
Students 1,100 (approx)
Grades 9–12
Location Chicago, Illinois, USA
Oversight Chicago Public Schools
Colors Maroon and silver
Mascot Mustang
Newspaper The Hoof Beat
Website northsideprep.org

Northside College Preparatory High School (commonly referred to as Northside College Prep, Northside Prep, or simply Northside; sometimes abbreviated as NCPHS or NCP) is a Chicago Public-Magnet School. Founded in 1999, it was the first new Chicago Public High School to be built in 20 years. It is a selective admissions school, teaching at the Honors and AP levels only (excluding the P.E. department). Northside quickly earned a reputation for academic excellence. In the years 2003-2005, it has scored highest in the state on the Prairie State Achievement Exam scores, administered to juniors. In 2003, Northside's Academic Decathlon ("acadec") team defeated Whitney Young High School to take first place in the state; it was the first time in 18 years Whitney Young had not gone home with this title. It went on to win the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) Division III National Championship.

The school's establishment, part of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's ongoing plan to reinvent the city's public school system, generated controversy in the city and in the education community. The facilities were built with a $52.5 million budget that critics said could better serve other, ailing schools.

Approximately 1,000 students comprise the student body. Given its extremely competitive academic environment, in 2004, Northside successfully lobbied the Chicago Board of Education to eliminate class rankings. This effort was led by Dr. James Lalley, who had been principal of the school since its inception.

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[edit] Facility

Northside College Prep was designed by OWP/P, an architecture firm based in Chicago, IL. The school was completed and ready for occupancy in two years. The school's site, constricted on the west side by a busy street and on the east by the North Branch of the Chicago River, resulted in a stacked linear floor plan. The three-story design provides an efficient use of available space.

[edit] Admission

Northside as well as the other Chicago selective enrollment schools look at ISAT scores & 7th grade scores in addition to attendance and the score on the acceptance test. The average of accepted students was 969 out of 1000.

[edit] Curriculum

Northside was cited in the 5/22/06 issue of Newsweek Magazine as among the top 25 "Elite of the Elite" public high schools nationwide. Controversy was sparked over this due to the fact that Northside only selects its students from among applicants. In 2007, Northside was recognized by US News and World Report as the "24th best public high school in the country." Northside is nationally recognized for its exemplary statistics program (ranked best in the world by the College Board) {{Source} and its unusual approach to math; the school utilizes the problem-based Interactive Mathematics Program. The school also has rich visual art, music, English, science, and social sciences programs. Other features of the school's curriculum include the Constitutional Law Project and the Senior Project program. Northside also offers seven foreign languages (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Latin, and Spanish), more than any other Chicago Public School. Northside also has 24 Advanced Placement classes. Northside is one of the few schools to offer an after-school journalism class that produces the The Hoof Beat.

[edit] Scheduling and Colloquium

Northside has college-like Block Scheduling: classes are twice as long, but only meet twice a week: Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesdays are reserved for a three-hour non-credit class called Colloquium. Dozens of colloquia are offered, and each closely examines one specific subject. Most of these classes last only one semester and each student is allowed to pick one of their choice at the beginning of each semester. These are the only classes in which pass/fail grades are issued at Northside. Colloquium is a unique component of the school that allows students to explore areas of interest outside of the typical school curriculum, on a regular basis. .

In the fall semester of 2007 Northside introduced student programming, in which students can access and select their schedules using online programs.

[edit] Sports

Northside currently offers a wide variety of sports, including Boys' Baseball (which recently accepted a female member, making it one of the few, if not the only, CPS school to have a girl on the boys' baseball team), Basketball, Bowling, Cheerleading, Chess, Cross Country, Golf, Men's and Women's Lacrosse, Pom Pon, Soccer, Boys' 16" Softball, Girls' Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track, Water Polo, Wrestling, and Volleyball.

In 2002, Northside had the choice between a football team or a rock-climbing wall. A rock-climbing wall was erected in the gymnasium soon after. Due to the absence of a football team at Northside, the school holds a homecoming dance centered around a homecoming basketball game in the winter. by defeaating In 2006 Girls Volleyball swept the Chicago City Championships; with all three teams (Varsity, JV, Freshmen) winning their championship games under the instruction of head coach, Nicole Flores. The Varsity Team then went on to win the 2006 IHSA Regional Championship, making it their second year in a row (2005,06). In 2007 Girls Freshmen Volleyball Team won the Chicago City Championship for the third time (2002,06,07).

In 2007, the Girls' Junior Varsity Softball team went undefeated, ending their season with a title as the Chicago City Champions.

In 2007, Varsity Cheerleading won the Chicago City Championships at the small division level as well as first place in the Chicago Twisters Spirit Challenge.

In 2008, Girls Junior Varsity Soccer team won the Chicago City Championships over Walter Payton College Prep High. The game went into double overtime and eight penalty kicks in the pouring rain.

In 2008, The Men's Varsity Volleyball team won the Chicago City Championship by defeating Whitney Young 25-12,25-21. The mustangs dominated the public league, ending their season with a 29-3 record.

[edit] Clubs

Northside offers a wide variety of extra-curricular clubs, including Academic Decathlon, All For Christ, Animal Rights Club, Anime Club, Asian Club, Beatles Club, The Community for Alternative Sources of Energy (CASE), Debate, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), "Fight Club" (S.C.S.),Gay-Straight Alliance, Global Initiative, Jama'ah Club, Jewish Students Union, Journalism, Junior Statesmen of America, Key Club, Latin Club, Latino Club, League of Extraordinary Seamsters, Martial Arts Club, Math Team, Middle Eastern Club, Model UN, National Honor Society, No More Silence, Pep Club,Star Wars Club, Student Council, Thespian Society, Yearbook, Depression Support Group, and the Chicago Teams Discussion and History Club and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Club

[edit] External links