Newton North High School, formerly Newton High School, is the larger and longer-established of two
public high schools in
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
, the other being
Newton South High School
Newton South High School is one of two public high schools in the city of Newton, Massachusetts, United States, the other being Newton North.
History and student life
By the late 1950s, Newton's sole public high school, Newton High, grew to 3,00 ...
. It is located in the village of
Newtonville. The school from 2009 to 2010 underwent controversial reconstruction of its facility, making it one of the largest and most expensive high schools ever built in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, with a price tag of nearly US$200 million.
The new building opened for classes in September 2010.
History
In the 1850s, high school classes in Newton were conducted in buildings shared with
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
s in the villages of
Newton Centre
Newton Centre is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre St ...
,
West Newton,
Upper Falls, and
Newton Corner. In 1859, Newton's population topped 8,000 residents for the first time, a threshold that required the town under Massachusetts state law to construct a separate high school. Newton High School's first principal was J.N. Beals, for whom the current Beals House was named. Beals also served as one of the new school's two teachers, along with Amy Breck. Beals left the job for health reasons after only one year and was replaced by E.D. Adams, for whom the current Adams House was named.
The first Newton High School building, located on Walnut Street in Newtonville, opened in September 1859, and was modified in 1875. In 1898, the original building was replaced with a new building, also on Walnut Street. This building, the Classical Newton High School, eventually became known as Building I. The next building (Building II, circa 1906) was the
Vocational High School
A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...
, and the third building of the Newton High School complex (Building III) opened in 1926 on Walnut Street. A field house/
gym
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...
nasium building (also known as "the drill shed"), adjacent to Building I, was also part of the complex, as were the athletic fields. Buildings I, II, and III were connected to each other via a series of maintenance tunnels. Newton High School was Newton's only
public high school for more than 100 years until 1960, when Newton South High School opened.
Newton High School was renamed Newton North High School in 1973 when a new building opened on Lowell Avenue. The first graduating class as "Newton North High School" was in the spring of 1974. After Newton North was built, all of the former "Newton High School" buildings were demolished.
Reconstruction
By 2003, the "old" Newton North building was 30 years old and aging poorly, with leaks, poor ventilation and crumbling stairs. After extensive community debate and a citizen review panel, a decision was reached to construct a replacement high school, with the final cost ultimately totaling $197.5 million, making it one of the most expensive high schools ever built in the state. A project consultant explained that the project's relatively high cost was partly due to demolition of the existing building, hazardous material abatement in the existing building, and the new school's complex program, which includes a
natatorium
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as ...
, vocational technology education program, and
culinary arts facilities.
At a public hearing in June 2006, community residents criticized the plan for its cost and for creating a new four-way intersection at Walnut Street and Trowbridge Avenue. Others claimed the proposed north–south orientation and lack of a basement level would waste energy as compared to the current structure. Nonetheless, after a public
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
and vote in January 2007, Newton residents approved the current plan for a new building.
Gund Partnership designed the new building, and Dore and Whittier Architects was the Architect of Record. Dimeo Construction Company was the construction manager and general contractor for the project. The removal of the asbestos, laden throughout the existing building, was priced at $10 million.
[Mesothelioma News](_blank)
The building was dismantled, with contaminated construction debris packaged in lined cardboard boxes and shipped out in 650 trailer loads.
The new building is oriented on a north–south axis on the eastern side of the current lot, with athletic fields to the west and a soccer field on the east side. The main entrance has returned to Walnut Street, as was the case from 1859 to 1973. The new building places the school office in a more accessible location – it was on the third floor in the old building – and ensures that most classrooms have natural light and windows to the outside.
The school incorporates many features that improve energy efficiency, and is among the first LEED-certified schools in the state. Green features include rooftop solar panels, systems to reuse rainwater, interior materials with low emission of volatile organic compounds, and occupancy motion sensors. Unlike the previous school building, where 50 percent of the classrooms did not have windows or access to daylight, classrooms in the new school receive natural light; light fixtures are dimmed based on the amount of daylight to conserve energy. In 2020,
solar canopies were constructed over the main parking lots.
House system
The school is divided into administrative units called "Houses". Each has its own office, secretary, and Dean (formerly "Housemaster"), who deals with administrative and disciplinary matters for house students. The House system was designed to provide better communication, distributed administration, more personal attention to individuals, a smaller peer group for students, more practical social events, and intra-house athletic teams. The houses are Adams, Barry, Beals and Riley, with each year group occupying one house. In the period of its largest population (≈3,000 students in the 1960s and later), there were six houses – the two additional houses being Bacon and Palmer – which also contained student common rooms and teachers' lounges. Originally, students in the same class were broken up into different houses; now the four houses correspond to the four grade levels. Students remain in the same house throughout their four years at Newton North. Houses are named for notable former principals, such as J.N. Beals and E.D. Adams.
Academics
Newton North offers both traditional college-preparatory academic courses along with technical and
vocational training
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...
. Traditional courses in the humanities and the sciences are streamed, often with College Prep, Advanced College Prep, Honors and
Advanced Placement options. Starting with the 2014–2015 school year, course levels were renamed to College Prep (formerly CII), Advanced College Prep (formerly (CI), and Honors/Advanced Placement (no change). Non-standard courses include
video production
Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...
, architecture,
automobile repair, and
biodiesel production
Biodiesel production is the process of producing the biofuel, biodiesel, through the chemical reactions of transesterification and esterification. This involves vegetable or animal fats and oils being reacted with short-chain alcohols (typically ...
.
Newton North held the sixth position in ''Boston Magazine''s 2010 rankings of public high schools.
Greengineering
During the academic year of 2009/2010 a Greengineering course was added in the Career and Tech. Ed. Department at Newton North High School. The course taught students how to produce
biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil ...
, make fused plastic bags, and grow
algae that would later be processed into
fuel. The biodiesel was sold to a recycling company as well as the community at large. This program was the first of its kind in both Massachusetts and the United States.
[Newton North Students Probe Future of Fuel, Environment](_blank)
, ''Newton Tab''. Greengineering was renewed for the academic year of 2010/2011 with additions to curriculum for Greengineering 101 and a new Greengineering 201 course. They had started creating a styrofoam type material using mycelium. They planned to use it to replace the need for non-green styrofoam and to create a surfboard made of fiberglass-coated mycelium. During the 2016–2017 school year, Greengineering had multiple new subject areas including pedal power and aquaponics. However, in the beginning of the 2018 school year, Greengineering came to an end and was replaced with a new Sustainability course.
Partnerships and exchanges
Students studying foreign languages have the opportunity to participate in one of several international exchange programs. In addition, Newton North participates in the
Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program. The city of Newton hosts students and teachers for four months each fall and sends students and teachers to Beijing each spring.
Extracurriculars
Clubs and societies
Competitive clubs at the school include
History Team,
Model United Nations
Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...
,
Mock Trial
A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisti ...
Team,
Debate
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
Team,
Mathematics Team, Science Team, and a
FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...
team: The LigerBots 2877. Newton North's Science Team has entered national and regional competitions. Newton North's History Team is ranked within the top half of teams, nationally, and has won several regional history bees.
In the 2011–2012 school year, the science team placed first at
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
Trivia,
Envirothon, and
JETS. In 1993 the team's
Science Bowl
The National Science Bowl (NSB) is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition, using a quiz bowl format, held in the United States. A buzzer system similar to those seen on popular television game shows is used to signal an an ...
division won the state championship and placed 3rd nationally. They won the Science Olympiad State competition in 1995, 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2009, and have represented Massachusetts at the national competition.
In the 2013–2014 school year, the LigerBots won the WPI District Competition, were finalists at the
Northeastern University District Competition, and placed for the
FIRST Championship in St. Louis. In the 2014–2015 school year, the LigerBots were semi-finalists and Chairman's Award winners at the UMass Dartmouth Competition, were finalists at the Northeastern competition, won the NE Regional Chairman's award, and placed for the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis. In the 2015–2016 school year, the LigerBots won the Entrepreneurship Award at the WPI competition, as well as the Innovation in Control Award at both the Boston University District Competition and the New England District Championship competition. In the 2017–2018 school year the team won the Imagery Award and Engineering Inspiration Award at the district level, and qualified for the FIRST World Championships.
The Chess Club has sent teams of four players to the tournament yearly for the past two decades. The school team won the championships in 2002, 2009, 2010, and 2012. In 2016 they placed second to two-time champions Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. In 2018 they once again placed second after losing in the final round to the eventual champions BBN, 1.5 -2.5. The last time an individual player has won the state title was Jacob Fauman in 2012. The current school team has top 50 nationally ranked chess players in their age group and top 25 finishers at the last national grade championships. The club itself has USCF Club affiliation and a Club TD (who is a student), something that no other high school in Massachusetts has.
Student government
Newton North has a long-running
student government system, which includes a president and multiple vice-presidents of each class, as well as the Student-Faculty Administration, a liaison between students and teachers.
In the 2020–2021 school year, the class of 2024 student government was the only grade to have elections by submitting a speech video. The class also had a record high of candidates for the election, with 38 students running.
Student publications
Newton North publishes a monthly student newspaper, ''The Newtonite'', founded in 1922. The paper has a circulation of 2000 issues. Students contribute to the paper through credited journalism courses. ''The Newtonite'' has won crowns from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association – the Gold Crown in 2001, and the Silver Crown in 2002 – among other scholastic journalism awards. Students also design and publish ''The Newtonian'', the school's yearbook, which printed its 101st edition in 2011. ''Thoughtprints'', published once a year, is the school's student-run literary magazine, featuring only student submissions. In 2010, the magazine included a CD of student-written music for the first time.
''Tiger Magazine'' is Newton North's video production class' monthly cable television program. It airs on Newton's
NewTV
NewTV is Newton, Massachusetts’ community media center, paid for by taxes on local cable bills.
Residents of the City of Newton, members of Newton-based non-profit organizations, employees of Newton businesses and City of Newton employees are el ...
local cable station. The content of the program is generally a mixture of comedy pieces, news, and community based documentary, as well as experimental and dramatic video works. Several ''Tiger Magazine'' alumni have gone on to pursue careers in the film industry, and numerous pieces originally aired on ''Tiger Magazine'' have won awards in local and national video contests. Near the end of the 2011–2012 school year, the name of the show was changed to ''Tiger Tube''.
Athletics
Newton North competes in the Bay State League with other
suburban Boston public schools. Since 1894, the boys'
football team has played rival
Brookline High School
Brookline High School is a four-year public high school in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts. It is a part of Public Schools of Brookline. The Headmaster is Anthony Meyer who holds a Master of Education in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard ...
in the traditional
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
Day game. This is one of the oldest high school football
rivalries in Massachusetts.
Newton North offers football, boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' track and cross country, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' volleyball, golf, baseball, softball, boys' and girls' lacrosse, field hockey, alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, tennis, and many other sports.
Track and field
The track teams at Newton North have remained some of the top teams in the state since the inception of state-level competition. Beginning with Newton High School's first state title in 1922, the boys' track teams have won the Division I / Class A state championship 24 times
outdoors and 15 times
indoors, including Newton High School's record streak of eight in a row (1952–1959). Massachusetts added an additional all-state meet including all divisions in the 1960s outdoors and 1980s indoors; Newton North has subsequently won all-state titles in 1977, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The 2004/2005 season featured both Division I and All-State titles in cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track which completed a "Triple Crown" of championships. That year also featured a victory at the
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays (also Penn Relays Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012, there were ...
in the high school distance medley championship, which was the first relay victory by a Massachusetts high school in almost 50 years. In 2011, the Newton North sprint medley relay team and its four members were named All-American by the National Scholastic Sports Foundation. Newton High/Newton North athletes have won a high school national title (Warren Wittens in the 1936 intermediate hurdles; Carla Forbes in 2012 in the long jump and triple jump; Nick Fofana in 2014 in the decathlon Andrew Mah in 2018 in the 5000), an NCAA title (Carl Shine in the 1959
shot put), and run a four-minute mile equivalent (Tom Carleo ran 3:41 for 1500 and competed at the
1988 Olympic trials).
The Newton North girls' track teams have had their share of championships as well and have consistently been one of the top high school track teams in the state, winning Division I / Class A titles in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Additionally, they captured the All-State title in 1990, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2005,2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Along with those successes, they won more than 40 Conference and League Championships in the past 22 years. Their top-scoring athlete at state competition, Tanya Jones, won eleven individual Division I championships in the 300, 400, high jump, and long jump, and is the only athlete from either Newton North or Newton South high schools to score over 100 points at the state division / class meet level. Post-high-school, distance star Liz Natale finished 2nd at the 1986
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
championship in the 3000m and was an
All-American six times for
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. The program has also had dozens of Nike All-Americans and New Balance All-Americans over the past ten years.
Other sports
The girls' soccer team has won five Division 1 State Championships, in 1989, 1992, 1996, 1999, and 2013, ranking as one of the top teams in the country. The boys' basketball team won the 2005 and 2006 Division 1 State Championships, and is considered one of the state's top basketball programs. They have captured the Bay State Championship five years in a row since 2004. The Newton North's boys' gymnastics team won four consecutive state championships from 1997 to 2000. The boys' tennis team won the Division 1 State Championship in 2002. In the spring of 2007,
tennis doubles
Traditionally, tennis is played between two people in a singles match, or two pairs in a doubles match. Tennis can also be played on different courts, including grass courts, clay courts, hard courts, and artificial grass courts.
Standard types ...
team Dan Razulis and Mike Greene won the MIAA State Doubles tournament. The boys'
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...
team won three state championships from the years 1992–1996, ranking as one of the top teams in the country. In 2005–06, the boys' football team won the Bay State league championship and went on to the Division 1A State Championship super bowl. In 2006 and 2007 the boys' volleyball team won the sectional title and went on to the Division 1 State Championship. In 2014, the boys' baseball team won the Division 1A state title by winning the first MIAA Super 8 state tournament. The girls' volleyball team won back-to-back state championships in 2017 and 2018, and in 2018 was honored by the MaxPreps Tour of Champions as one of the top 50 high school teams in the country.
Theatre Ink
Theatre Ink is Newton North's theater department.
Students work as
directors
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
,
stage managers
Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...
, student producers, and designers, and in backstage roles, in addition to onstage roles.
All sets, lights, and sound for productions are designed, built, and operated by students.
Theatre Ink uses two performance spaces, the Performing Arts Center, which is a standard
proscenium theatre
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
and seats approximately 600, and the little theatre,
a roughly 200-seat
theatre-in-the-round.
A typical season has several productions:
* Approximately three to five student-directed
plays
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
, one of which is often a
musical. These plays are directed by teams of two, or rarely three, seniors who applied for the opportunity during their junior year.
* A large-scale musical
performed in the main auditorium in the month of March. This production is usually the largest of the year, featuring the largest team of student actors, musicians, and crew members. Past musicals include ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
'' (2003), ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
'' (2004), ''
Bye Bye Birdie
''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart.
Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The short story "Dream Man", authored ...
'' (2005), ''
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
'' (2006), ''
West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
'' (2007),
''
Grease'' (2008), ''
Anything Goes
''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...
'' (2009), ''
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...
'' (2010), ''
Curtains
A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain), water. A curtain is also the movable screen or drape in a theatre that separates the stage from the auditoriu ...
'' (2011), and ''
Legally Blonde
''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...
'' (2012), ''
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' may refer to:
* ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (book), a 1952 book written by Shepherd Mead and the inspiration for the musical of the same name.
* ''How to Succeed in Bu ...
'' (2013), ''
Thoroughly Modern Millie
''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical- romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve you ...
'' (2014), ''
Once Upon a Mattress
''Once Upon a Mattress'' is a musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway. The play was writte ...
'' (2015), ''
Oliver!'' (2016), ''
Fiddler on the Roof'' (2017), ''
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'' (2018), and ''
Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to:
Films
* ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips
* ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below)
Music
* ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...
'' (2019).
* A
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
production in collaboration with Newton South High School's theater department, South Stage, featuring
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
s and crew members from both schools. Past shows include ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'' (2004 and 2012), ''
Henry IV, Part I
''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...
'' (2005), ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (2006), ''
The Tempest'' (2007), ''
Romeo and Juliet'' (2008), ''
Macbeth'' (2009), ''
The Comedy of Errors
''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. ...
'' (2011), and ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' (2011).
* Performances by the school's
improvisation troupe, Spontaneous Generation,
and
sketch comedy troupe, Nitrous Oxide, and of contemporary
musical theater
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
, Cabaret Troupe, in concert style.
* The Playwrights' Festival, an evening featuring short plays written, directed and performed by students.
* Freshman Cabaret, also known as "FroshCab", is a showcase featuring ninth graders and directed by sophomores.
In 2016, Theatre Ink entered a production for the first time into the
Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild's annual statewide theatrical competition. Theatre Ink entered its production of ''
Oliver!'', the musical based on the
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
novel ''
Oliver Twist''. The production won several awards, including Best Acting Ensemble, Best Dance Ensemble, Best Hair & Makeup Design & Execution, and Best Overall Production.
Notable alumni
*
Jake Auchincloss
Jacob Daniel Auchincloss ( ; born January 29, 1988) is an American politician, businessman, and Marine veteran serving as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district since 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Part ...
(2006) – Congressman for the
Massachusetts's 4th congressional district
*
Katharine Lee Bates
Katharine Lee Bates (August 12, 1859 – March 28, 1929) was an American author and poet, chiefly remembered for her anthem "America the Beautiful", but also for her many books and articles on social reform, on which she was a noted speaker.
Bat ...
(1878) – composer of "America the Beautiful"
*
Percy Williams Bridgman
Percy Williams Bridgman (April 21, 1882 – August 20, 1961) was an American physicist who received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the physics of high pressures. He also wrote extensively on the scientific method and on other as ...
(1900) – physicist and philosopher of science, 1946
Nobel laureate
*
Louis C.K.
Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. C.K. won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a ...
(1985) – stand-up comedian, actor, producer, director, and writer
*
George R. Collins
George Roseborough Collins (September 2, 1917 – January 5, 1993) was an American art historian and educator. An expert on the work of the architect Antoni Gaudí, Collins was Professor of Art History at Columbia University.
Career
A native of ...
(1935) – art historian
*
Jim Corsi (1979) –
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
, notably for the
Oakland Athletics and the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
*
A. Joseph DeNucci
A. Joseph DeNucci (August 30, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was a middleweight boxer and the Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Early life and career
DeNucci started working at 10 in a bowling alley, picking up and racking pins. DeNuc ...
(1955) –
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
and
state auditor
*
Ronnie DeVoe
Ronald Boyd DeVoe Jr. (born November 17, 1967), is an American singer, rapper, and actor known as one of the members of the R&B/pop group New Edition, and the R&B/ hip hop group Bell Biv DeVoe. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Career
DeVo ...
(1986) – singer of R&B group
New Edition
New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 19 ...
*
Dimitri Diatchenko
Dimitri Diatchenko (April 11, 1968 – April 21, 2020) was an American actor.
Life and career
Diatchenko was born April 11, 1968, in Oakland, California. He was a native of San Francisco, California and a first-generation American; his fathe ...
(1986) – actor, notably in ''
Chernobyl Diaries
''Chernobyl Diaries'' is a 2012 American disaster horror film co-written and produced by Oren Peli and directed by Brad Parker, in his directorial debut. The film stars Jonathan Sadowski, Jesse McCartney, Devin Kelley, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Ingr ...
''; musician
*
Anne Dudek (1993) – actress, notably in ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...
'', ''
House'', ''
The Book Group'' and ''
Covert Affairs
''Covert Affairs'' is an American action drama television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. On January 6, 2015, USA Network canceled ''Covert Affairs'' afte ...
''
*
Caroline Ellison
Caroline Ellison (born 1994) is an American former business executive and quantitative trader. She is the former CEO of Alameda Research, the trading firm affiliated with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
According to an anonymous source ci ...
(2012) - CEO of
Alameda Research
Alameda Research was a cryptocurrency trading firm, co-founded in September 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Tara Mac Aulay.
In November 2022, FTX, Alameda's sister cryptocurrency exchange, experienced a solvency crisis, and both FTX and Alame ...
*
Houry Gebeshian (2007) – artistic gymnast, former
Iowa Hawkeyes team member,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
national team member
*
Daniel Goldhagen
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (born June 30, 1959) is an American author, and former associate professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. Goldhagen reached international attention and broad criticism as the author of two controver ...
(1977) – political scientist, former professor at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, author of
Hitler's Willing Executioners
''Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust'' is a 1996 book by American writer Daniel Goldhagen, in which he argues that the vast majority of ordinary Germans were "willing executioners" in the Holocaust because of a uniq ...
*
Stephen Greenblatt (1961) –
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
scholar, academic,
literary critic, pioneer of
New Historicism
*
Peter Guber
Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942) is an American business executive, entrepreneur, educator, and author. He is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Guber's most recent films from Mandalay Entertainment include '' The Kids Are All ...
(around 1960) – Hollywood film producer, part owner of the LA Dodgers
*
Sean Gullette
Sean Leland Sebastian Gullette (born June 4, 1968) is an American film director, writer, screenwriter, actor, and producer.
Personal life
Gullette was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Margaret Morganroth Gullette a cultural critic an ...
(1986) – writer; actor in ''
Happy Accidents'' and ''
Requiem for a Dream
''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same na ...
''
*
Pete Hamilton
Peter Goodwill Hamilton (July 20, 1942 – March 21, 2017) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR for six years, where he won four times in his career (including the 1970 Daytona 500), three times driving ...
(1960) – NASCAR driver and
1970 Daytona 500 winner
*
James Heywood (1985) – founder,
ALS Therapy Development Foundation, co-founder of Patients Like Me
*
Stephen Heywood (1987) – artist,
builder, and subject of documentary ''
So Much So Fast''
*
Warren Huston (1933) — infielder in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
*
Martin Karplus (1947) – chemist, winner of 2013
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
*
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc r ...
(1985) – actor, notably in ''
Friends'' and ''
Joey
Joey may refer to:
People
*Joey (name)
Animals
* Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial
* Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets
Film and television
* ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...
''
*
Florencia Lozano
Florencia Lozano (born December 16, 1969) is an American actress. She starred as Téa Delgado on the daytime series ''One Life to Live''.
Lozano has guest-starred in several primetime television shows, as well as films.
Early life
Florencia Lo ...
(1987), actress, ''
One Life to Live''
*
Andy MacDonald (1992) – professional skateboarder
*
Elizabeth McCracken
Elizabeth McCracken (born 1966) is an American author. She is a recipient of the PEN New England Award.
Life and career
McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Newton North High S ...
(1984) – author of ''
Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry
''Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry'' is a collection of short stories by Elizabeth McCracken first published in 1993 by Random House. It was included on the American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonpro ...
'', ''An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination''
*
Caitlin McGee
Caitlin Cole McGee (born January 9, 1988) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as attorney Sydney Strait on the legal drama ''Bluff City Law''. She is currently a regular on the ABC comedy ''Home Economics''.
Career
McGee h ...
(2006) – actress, notably in ''
Bluff City Law'', ''
Modern Love'', and ''
Home Economics
Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...
''
*
Seth Mnookin
Seth Mnookin (born April 27, 1972) is an American writer and journalist.
As of 2017, he is a Professor of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at MIT and the Director of Institute's Graduate Program in Science Writing. He is also the media reporter ...
(1990) – contributing editor for ''
Vanity Fair''; author of ''
Hard News
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...
''
*
Robert Morse
Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor, who starred in ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', both the 1961 original Broadway production ...
(1949) – actor and singer, notably the 1961 original Broadway production and 1967 film adaptation of ''
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' may refer to:
* ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (book), a 1952 book written by Shepherd Mead and the inspiration for the musical of the same name.
* ''How to Succeed in Bu ...
''
*
Aoife O'Donovan
Aoife O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still and she also co-founded the Grammy Award-winning female folk trio I'm ...
(2002) – lead singer of the bluegrass band
Crooked Still
Crooked Still is an American band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas. They are known for their high energy, technical skill, unusual i ...
*
Julie Palais (1974) – Antarctic researcher, glaciologist, climate change researcher
*
Seth Putnam
Seth Edward Putnam (May 15, 1968 – June 11, 2011) was an American musician who was the founder, vocalist and occasional guitarist of grindcore band Anal Cunt. He was known for his high-pitched screamed vocals and lyrics that either shock, of ...
(1985) – musician
*
James Remar
William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has played numerous roles over a 40 year career, most notably Ajax in '' The Warriors'' (1979), Albert Ganz in ''48 Hrs.'' (1982), Dutch Schultz in '' The Cotton Club'' (1984 ...
(1971) – actor, notably in ''
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'' and ''
Dexter''
*
Michael Rosbash
Michael Morris Rosbash (born March 7, 1944) is an American geneticist and chronobiologist. Rosbash is a professor and researcher at Brandeis University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Rosbash's research group cloned the ...
(1961) – biologist, 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
*
Josh Roseman
Josh Roseman (born 5 June 1967) is an American jazz trombonist. His nickname is "Mr. Bone". He studied in Newton North High School.
Roseman was born in Boston, and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. Roseman toured Jamaica with The ...
(1985) – musician, composer and producer
*
Mark Sandman
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
(1970) – musician, bassist and vocalist of
Morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
*
Dana Adam Shapiro
Dana Adam Shapiro is an American film director, best known for his directorial work on the 2006 Academy Award-nominated documentary '' Murderball''.
Career
Dana Adam Shapiro is a journalist, novelist, and filmmaker. He was nominated for the 20 ...
(1991) – co-director of ''
Murderball'', writer for ''Icon'', ''
Spin'' and ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' magazines; author of ''
The Every Boy''
*
H. James Shea Jr. (1957) – member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...
, anti-Vietnam War activist
*
James Harris Simons
James Harris Simons (; born 25 April 1938) is an American mathematician, billionaire hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Renaissance Technologies, a quantitative hedge fund based in East Setauket, New York. He and his f ...
(1956) – mathematician, billionaire, founder of
Renaissance Technologies
Renaissance Technologies LLC, also known as RenTech or RenTec, is an American hedge fund based in East Setauket, New York, on Long Island, which specializes in systematic trading using quantitative models derived from mathematical and statisti ...
and the
Simons Foundation
The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the US with assets of over $5 billion in 2022, the foundation's mission ...
*
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King'' debuted in 1997, and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for Best ...
(1970) – theater director, ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...
'' on Broadway; film director, notably of ''
Across the Universe'', ''
Frida
''Frida'' is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Julie Taymor which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Starring Salma Hayek in an Academy Award–nominated portrayal as K ...
''
*
Michael Thomas (1985) – author of ''
Man Gone Down''
*
Edward Chase Tolman (1904) – psychologist and prominent theorist of
behaviorism
*
Richard Chase Tolman
Richard Chace Tolman (March 4, 1881 – September 5, 1948) was an American Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and physical chemist who made many contributions to statistical mechanics. He also made important contributions to Physi ...
(1899) – physical chemist, physicist, and scientific advisor to the U.S. government
*
Liesl Tommy
Liesl Tommy () is a South African-American director. Primarily known for her stage work, Tommy became the first woman of color to be nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, for directing the Broadway production of Danai Gurira' ...
(1990) – theater and television director
*
Setti Warren
Setti David Warren (born August 25, 1970) is an American politician. He served as Mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, and is a former Democratic candidate for United States Senate in 2012. He is the first popularly elected African ...
(1988) – mayor of Newton and gubernatorial candidate
*
George T. Whitesides (1992) – CEO of
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The compan ...
and former chief of staff at
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
and former director of the
National Space Society
The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Comb ...
*
Robert S. Woodworth (1887) – prominent early psychologist
*
Laura Zigman (1980) – author of ''
Animal Husbandry'' (adapted into the film ''
Someone like You''), ''Dating Big Bird'', ''Her'', ''Piece of Work''
Inducted to the Newton Public Schools athletic hall of fame.
Note: Alumni who graduated prior to 1974 are graduates of Newton High School.
References
External links
*
''The Newtonite''The LigerBotsState Department of Education "Adequate Yearly Progress"Newton North's Main Page at Great SchoolsTheatre Ink homepageThe Newton North Greengineering website Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange ProgramPhotos of the new school on the Boston Globe website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton North High School
Public high schools in Massachusetts
Schools in Newton, Massachusetts
Educational institutions established in 1859
Bay State Conference
1859 establishments in Massachusetts