Niwot High School (NHS) is a

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

located in

Niwot, Colorado Niwot is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Boulder, Colorado Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Niwot post offi ...

. It is the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

high school of the

St. Vrain Valley School District The St. Vrain Valley School District is the local school district for Longmont, Colorado, United States, and several nearby communities. It is the seventh largest district in the state. Schools Stand-alone preschools * Spark! Discovery Preschool ...

Background

Niwot High School is situated about halfway between the cities of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

and

Longmont The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Longmont's ...

in the small

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

town of Niwot. First opened in 1972, Niwot High School has been a part of the community for over 40 years. Niwot High School enrolled 1,177 students in the 2019-2020 school year. For students of Sunset Middle School, Niwot High School is the default location to continue their education. The school also attracts students from throughout the school district to participate in its International Baccalaureate program. The number of graduates in each class is typically around 300 students.

History

The school's original construction was delayed, so for the first semester of the 1972–1973 school year, students attended classes at the

Longmont High School Longmont High School is the original high school of the city of Longmont, Colorado, United States, and opened its doors to students in 1901. The school is located in central Longmont and serves as a high school for the St. Vrain Valley School Distr ...

building after regular hours. Niwot High School was finished on December 22, 1972. The first class of students was given the honor to choose the school's colors, mascot, and motto. These were two students from each class that was to attend the new school. The colors were kelly green and silver, the mascot was a cougar named "Carrie", and the motto was "Our Pride is Our Life". There were no seniors in the first year because the district did not want to remove current seniors from their home schools to finish their final year in a new school. Thus, the class of 1974 was the first graduating class, and the class of 1976 was the first to have been at Niwot for all four years. The football and baseball team won the conference championship their second year. The school has had several additions since it was originally constructed; the new commons, auditorium, large gym, and a large portion of the lower wing were added after the school was originally built.

2013 bomb scare

On Wednesday, January 10, 2013, a Niwot High School employee reported a note left on a restroom stall, claiming the "School will blow" on Friday, January 12, 2013. Police searched the building with detection dogs but found no explosive devices. According to authorities, they also found a " hit list" containing the names of 22 students. The school canceled all classes on the 12th, to be "cautious", and to allow the police to conduct a thorough search of the building. A 17-year-old wrestler at the school was arrested in connection with the hit list, but his name was not released because of his age.

Athletics

In 2018, Niwot was runner-up for the BoCoPreps.com Cup, the highest finish in school history.

State championships

Notable alumni

* Meredith Emerson, murder victim *

Elise Cranny Elise Cranny (born May 9, 1996) is an American middle and long-distance runner. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. High school Cranny was born in 1996. She attended Niwot High School in Colorado, where she won two cross country state c ...

, long-distance runner

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Colorado International Baccalaureate schools in Colorado Schools in Boulder County, Colorado Educational institutions established in 1972