Northside College Preparatory High School

For schools of the same name, see Northside High School (disambiguation).
Northside College Prep High School
Address
5501 N. Kedzie Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625
United States
Coordinates 41°58′53″N 87°42′28″W / 41.9813°N 87.70783°W / 41.9813; -87.70783Coordinates: 41°58′53″N 87°42′28″W / 41.9813°N 87.70783°W / 41.9813; -87.70783
Information
Type Public Secondary Selective Enrollment
Established 1999
Oversight Chicago Public Schools
Principal Kelly L. Mest
Grades 9–12
Number of students 1,048 (2014-15)[1]
Campus type Urban
Color(s) Maroon     
Silver     
Athletics conference Chicago Public League
Mascot Mustang
Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Newspaper The Hoof Beat
Website School Website

Northside College Preparatory High School (commonly referred to as Northside College Prep, Northside Prep, NCP, or simply Northside) is a public 4-year selective enrollment high school located in the North Park neighborhood on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1999, it was the first new CPS high school to be built in 20 years. It is a selective enrollment school, and teaches only at the Honors and AP levels (excluding the P.E. department). Northside has earned a reputation for academic excellence, and has been consistently ranked as the #1 high school in Illinois by US News and World Report.

As of 2014, it was ranked #3 in the nation by Newsweek.[2] The school's establishment, part of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's 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 have better served other schools in city.

Admission

Admission to Northside Prep follows the selective enrollment application system. Factors considered in the application include a student's grades from 7th grade, standardized test scores, entrance exam scores, and socio-economic status.[3] As of 2012-2013, the demographic makeup of Northside Prep HS was 42.6% white, 24.4% Asian, 22.6% Hispanic, 6.3% black, and 0.7% Native American. As of 2012-2013, 35.5% of the school's students were low-income, 6% were special education students, and 0.7% were limited English learners.[4]

College admissions and rankings

Northside College Prep is well known for the success of its students in the college admissions process, with over a quarter of the senior class gaining admission to the nation's top universities. Over 99% of the graduating senior class matriculates to college. In addition, the student body as a whole earns a large amount of financial aid from various sources.

Curriculum/scheduling and colloquium

With the exception of physical education classes, all courses in Northside are either Honors or (AP) (Advanced Placement). Northside has 24 advanced placement classes. Northside's math program is unique from most other high schools in that it uses the Interactive Mathematics Program, also known as IMP, instead of a traditional math track. IMP is very writing based, with students writing portfolios and projects instead of simply solving mathematical equations. Aside from four IMP courses, Northside also offers College Math, AP Statistics, AP Calculus BC, AP Calculus AB, and Multi-Variable Calculus.

Northside also offers special education services for incoming students with diagnosed disabilities. The school's Office of Specialized Services helps to arrange appropriate accommodations.[8] Given its extremely competitive academic environment, Northside successfully lobbied the Chicago Board of Education to eliminate class rankings. This effort was led by former principal Dr. James Lalley.

Northside runs on a block schedule. Most classes meet twice a week: Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays. The school day used to start at 8:16am and ended at 3:30pm until the 2014-15 school year when the school day at Northside now starts at 8:00am and now ends at 3:04pm (except for Colloquium schedule where it ends at 3:01pm).[9] Each block is 102 minutes long with an 8 minute passing period between blocks.[10] Wednesdays are reserved for an approximately three-hour non-credit class on five-day weeks (except Consumer-Ed, in which credit is given) called Colloquium. Dozens of colloquia are offered, with a wide range of interest such as motorcycle repair, computers, robotics, consumer-education, sewing, quilting, art, photography, paper craft, and Asian calligraphy, and each relates to one specific theme that changes every year. Classes are chosen by students twice a year (every semester, or otherwise it is year-long); availability is dependent on popularity and student's year ranking: seniors get first pick, then juniors, sophomores, and lastly freshmen; all of this is done online, through sound programming, with student portals opening at 7 am for students to start registering. There are different dates for different year students. These are the only classes in which students either pass or fail. Colloquium clubs vary from year to year.

After colloquium on Wednesdays, Northside College Prep has X and Y block classes. X and Y block classes are classes that students re-pick every week that will help them most that specific week. For instance if a student needs help in math homework they can choose a math tutoring class for either their X or Y block that week(each block used to be about 50 minutes long until the 2014-15 school year where now X and Y are 60 minutes long[9]). Northside recently implemented and utilizes online student programming, in which students access and select their schedules through internet programming for both classes and colloquium. Courses for the upcoming school year are programmed at the end of the first semester of the current school year.

Sustainability and athletics

In the summer of 2010, Northside installed a 105-panel solar thermal system on the southern half of its roof. These solar panels work to heat the school's pool and have the capacity to provide hot water to the entire school.[11] This project was head by Northside science teacher Mr. Mike Coy, and Alexandra Rojek, Northside's 2011 valedictorian.

Located behind the school is the Joy Garden, a continuation of Northside's efforts to become a more sustainable institution. The Joy Garden is a 10, 000 square foot situated adjacent to the eastern front of the building and was built entirely through the efforts of students with the help of Urban Habitat Chicago. The garden is equipped with the latest in green technology, including a self-sustainable storm water management system and permeable concrete. However, it is more than just ecologically functional and friendly. This garden was built with a particular emphasis on providing a stimulating environment for special needs students. It extends from a traditional garden environment to one that is accessible to all students.[12] Northside competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The girl's varsity softball team were regional champions in 2011-12, 2012–13; and became the city champion. In 2013, The girls' varsity volleyball finished first in their conference (Red North). Pom-Pons team placed 1st in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) city championship and placed 2nd in the IDTA state competition in 2013. Sports Offerings:[13]

    • Cross Country
    • Men's and Women's Golf
    • Men's Soccer
    • Men's 16" Softball
    • Women's Swimming/Diving
    • Women's Tennis
    • Women's Volleyball
  • Winter:
    • Men's and Women's Basketball
    • Men's and Women's Bowling
    • Cheerleading
    • Chess
    • Pom-Pons
    • Men's Swimming/Diving
    • Wrestling
  • Spring:
    • Baseball
    • Men's and Women's Lacrosse
    • Women's Soccer
    • Women's Softball
    • Men's Tennis
    • Men's and Women's Track & Field
    • Men's Volleyball
    • Men's and Women's Water Polo

Clubs

[14] Northside offers a wide variety of extracurricular clubs:

  • Academic Decathlon
  • Acafellas
  • All For Christ
  • Anime Club
  • Aquarium Club
  • Archery Club
  • Art Club
  • Asian Club
  • Badminton Club
  • Baile Sorpresa (Mexican Dance Club)
  • Ballroom Dancing
  • Belly Dance
  • Best Buddies
  • Bike Crew
  • Black Student Union (BSU)
  • C.A.R.E.
  • Chinese Fan Dance
  • Chinese National Honor Society
  • Club Forte
  • Country Line Dancing
  • Cricket Club
  • Cupcakes for a Cause
  • Dirt Actualizers (D.A.) Beasts
  • Dazzle
  • Debate
  • Doing Something Wonderful (DSW)
  • Drama Club
  • Elderly Appreciation Society
  • European Dance
  • Film Club
  • Forensics (Speech) Team
  • French Honors Society
  • Future Business Leaders of America
  • Generation Y
  • Girls/Guys Call Out
  • Global Initiative
  • Harry Potter Club
  • Hawkey Club
  • Hypnotik (Hip Hop Dance)
  • Indonesian Hand Dance
  • Indo-Pak Club (Desi-Club)
  • Irish Dance
  • Isang Hakbang
  • Jama'ah Club
  • Japanese National Honor Society
  • Jewish Student Connection
  • Junior Statesmen of America (JSA)
  • Key Club
  • Knitting Club
  • Korean Fan Dance
  • Latin Club
  • Latino Club
  • MAP (Magical After School Place)
  • Make it Work Fashion Club
  • Math Team
  • Micro-finance Club
  • Modding, OverClocking and E-Sports
  • Model UN (United Nations)
  • National Honor Society
  • Nintendo Club
  • Northside Alliance
  • Northside buildOn Chapter
  • Northside Poetry Slam Team
  • Northside Rec Football
  • Ohana (Hawaiian Dance)
  • ONE
  • Organization of Albanian Culture
  • Passion Dance Ensemble (contemporary ballet)
  • Pep Club
  • Phoenix (Greek Club)
  • Ping Pong Club
  • Polish Club
  • Poongmul (Korean percussion)
  • Recycling Club
  • Red Cross
  • River Club
  • Robotics
  • Rocketry Club
  • Sabor Latino (Latin Ballroom Dancing)
  • Ski & Snowboard
  • Soran Bushi Dance Team
  • Spanish Honor Society
  • Stage Crew
  • STEMpact
  • Student Council
  • Tari Saman (Indonesian Hand Dance)
  • Tech Crew (Student volunteer IT service)
  • Tech², a technology club that won first place in 2011's Capstone competition.
  • Ten-Minute Dance Party
  • The Unbelieveables [sic]:Atheist/Agnostic Alliance
  • United Leagues
  • Undocumented Student Alliance (U.S.A)
  • Venture Capitalist
  • Verve Literary Magazine
  • Viet Mua
  • Yacht Club
  • Yearbook
  • Yoga Club

Extra-curriculars

Notable alumni

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.