Northside High School (Lafayette, Louisiana)

Mission statement

Northside High School Northside High School seeks to provide a challenging learning environment by encouraging high expectations for success, implementing rigorous instruction and allowing for individual differences and learning styles

Northside High School is located in the North part of the city of Lafayette, Louisiana; hence "Northside". It has an excellent athletic system, and the football team was state runner up in 2005 and 6-4A district champion from 2009 and 2010. Also the Basketball team and Wrestling team won the 4A State Championship in 2006. Cross Country won 3rd in district in 2004 and 1st in District in 2010. The school itself is predominantly African American. The Female track and field team have won 3 back to back 6-4A State Championships from years 2008 to 2010, and the Males have won 2 back to back State Championships years 2009 and 2010.Ron Guidry, former pitcher and current pitching coach for the New York Yankees, is an alumnus of Northside High School. Perry Stevenson, currently a College Basketball player for the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, is an alumnus of Northside High School. He was recruited out of Northside High School by Coach Tubby Smith at Kentucky. Dr. Toby Daspit (class of 1984) is a famous intellectual in the field of critical pedagogy, particularly relating to popular culture and postmodernism. Daspit is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Co-Director of The National Writing Project of Acadiana, and a Doris B. & Mike Aderman/BOR Endowed Professor.

Northside is a participating school which offers The School's of Choice Program and home to The Law Studies program which includes a state of the art mocktrial room ran by Ms.Liz Tullier. The NHS Law Signature programs consist of Law 1 (Street Law), Law 2 (criminal justice and mock trial activities), Law 3 (paralegal studies, forensic psychology, and mock trial activities), and Speech/Debate for the law student.

The students participate in regional mock trial competition and host a law week for NHS social studies classes. During this week the law students perform a mock trial and conduct activities for the students. The law students also participate in a field trip to Angola and tour the federal courthouse.

The future of the program depends on recruitment for students into the program. The Young Lawyers Association in Lafayette and the Neuner & Pate Law Firm has been vital components of our program. We would also like to expand the program to include dual enrollment in the local community college in the field of criminal justice and perhaps a criminal justice training program for potential law enforcement officers.

Schools of Choice Academies

Engineering Academy Northside is the home of the Engineering Academy, which offers students across the Lafayette area to come from their freshmen year to graduation. The Academy of Engineering serves dual purposes. The main goal is to prepare students to be successful in a post-secondary field of study related to Engineering or Industrial Technology. The second goal is to help students determine which specific Engineering or Industrial Technology discipline most appeals to them and catches their interest as a possible future career. Courses include Engineering I and II, Drafting I and II, General Technology Education, and Technology Education Computer Applications.