Wichita Northwest High School, known locally as Northwest High, is a public

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

, United States. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves 1,320 students in grades 9 to 12.

History

The school opened in 1978. The first principal, John Gasper, was hired in the Spring of 1977 in order to oversee building construction, develop academic programs, hire staff, and make other preparations necessary to open the $10.4 million facility. In 2013, Gil Alvarez became principal after 2 years at Northeast Traditional Magnet.

Facility

The school building features a commons area, which includes a student activity center, a dining facility, a study area, and an informal social gathering place. The commons area can also be used as a 330-seat theater. Surrounding the central commons are administrative offices, instructional areas, student lockers, and food service. An 800-seat

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

is also located adjacent to the commons. The

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

complex, located at the terminus of one of the wings (referred to as "halls,") consists of a large multipurpose

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 ins ...

nasium with bleacher seating for 2,900 and a six-lane

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

short-course competition swimming pool with retractable bleachers for 400 spectators. Northwest is receiving multiple updates per a 2008 bond issue, such as: new tennis courts (completed 2010), new astroturf football field (completed 2009), new bleachers, permanent concessions stands and locker rooms in the football stadium, new physical education classroom (previously wrestling room), new wrestling room and weights room (previously north 1/3 of gym), new gymnasium (south of current gym; on current baseball field), as well as a new business department and more classrooms.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Wichita Northwest is a member of the

Kansas State High School Activities Association The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the U.S. state of Kansas at the high school, high-school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, ...

(KSHSAA) and competes in the 6A division. The following sports are offered: *Baseball (boys) *Basketball (boys & girls) *Bowling (boys & girls) *Cheerleading (coed) *Cross country (boys & girls) *Dance (girls) *Football (boys) *Golf (boys & girls) *Soccer (boys & girls) *Softball (girls) *Swimming & diving (boys & girls) *Tennis (boys & girls) *Track (boys & girls) *Volleyball (girls) *Wrestling (boys)

State Championships

Non-athletic activities

*Debate *Drama/Theatre *National Honors Society *Explorer (newspaper) *Quill and Scroll *Scholars' Bowl *Silvertip (yearbook) *Student Senate *Band

Notable alumni

Tony Barker Anthony Ray Barker (born September 7, 1968) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Kansas before transferring to Rice University following his sophomore yea ...

, former NFL player *

Braeden Cloutier Braeden Cloutier (born October 3, 1974) is an American soccer coach and former player who is the former head coach of Orange County SC. As a player, he spent five seasons in Major Soccer League and over twelve in various indoor leagues. Early l ...

, retired professional soccer player, played for various franchises in the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Hailey Colborn Hailey Colborn (born October 10, 2000) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Teen USA 2018. She is the second entrant from Kansas to win the title after Keylee Sue Sanders won Miss Teen USA 1995. Life and career Early li ...

Miss Teen USA 2018 Miss Teen USA 2018, the 36th Miss Teen USA pageant, was held on May 18, 2018 at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. For the first time, the pageant was held concurrently with its sister pageant Miss USA 2018, which was held three ...

Breece Hall Breece Hall (born May 31, 2001) is an American football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Iowa State, where he was a two-time All-American and Big 12 Offensive Player of the ...

, NFL running back for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

* Chris Harper, former NFL player. * LeBaron Hollimon, retired professional soccer player and coach * Jeff Richardson, former

MLB 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), ...

player *

Phil Stacey Joel Philip Stacey (born January 21, 1978) is an American singer who first gained national attention on season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On ...

, American singer and finalist on

American Idol Season 6 The sixth season of ''American Idol'' premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and January 17, and ran until May 23, 2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned to judge o ...

Kamerion Wimbley Kamerion Wimbley (born October 13, 1983) is a former American football outside linebacker and defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft with the 13th ove ...

, former NFL player

References

External links

Official school website

Excerpts from ''A History of Wichita Public School Buildings''
USD 259. {{Authority control Public high schools in Kansas Schools in Wichita, Kansas 1978 establishments in Kansas Educational institutions established in 1978