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Niwot High School (NHS) is a public high school located in Niwot, Colorado and is part of the St. Vrain Valley School District.

Mission Statement

"Niwot High School provides educational experiences that inspire academic excellence, personal growth and social responsibility. Niwot High School accepts the responsibility for providing a safe and positive environment, a challenging academic program, activities that promote discovery of diverse interests and abilities, an atmosphere of respect and trust, and opportunities of responsibility."

Aim

Niwot High School's aim is to provide classes focusing on reading, writing, and mathematics at the various levels needed to educate the student body. Each year, the school aims to increase the proficiencies in each of these three areas, as measured by Colorado Student Assessment Program scores. By the end of 2008, the school aims to have 9th and 10th grade students at a 93% proficiency level in reading, a 92% in writing, and an 89% in mathematics. In an effort to achieve these goals, the school strives to maintain vertical alignment with the middle schools in all of the core curricular areas.

Information

Niwot High School is a class 4A school, enrolling approximately 1,200 students . For students of Sunset Middle School, Niwot High is the default location to continue their education. The school also attracts students from throughout the St. Vrain Valley School District to participate in the school's International Baccalaureate program. The number of graduates from each class is typically around 300 students .

Background

Niwot High School is situated about halfway between the cities of Boulder, Colorado and Longmont, Colorado in the small unincorporated town of Niwot, Colorado. First opened in 1972 , Niwot High School has been a part of the Niwot, Colorado community for over 30 years. The campus consists of two levels. On the upper level is the main entrance to the school, as well as the cafeteria, commons, main office, and counseling office. The lower level contains most of the classrooms, including the Science, Mathematics, Foreign Language, Fine Arts and Practical Arts classrooms, while the Language Arts and Music Classrooms are upstairs. The front parking lot is where the student body parking is located, as well as the visitor parking. The back parking lot is reserved for staff parking.

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. In 2007, the school was fitted with electronic locks on all but the main doors, and the lower parking lot ( which was originally the Senior Parking Lot ) became the staff-only parking lot.

Schedule

Classes at Niwot High School operate on a 2 day, 8 block schedule. Class starts at 7:20 in the morning and ends at 2:23 in the afternoon. The classes vary between days, designated as "Day 1"s and "Day 2"s. The time schedule on a Day 1 and a Day 2 is the same, but the classes are different, so that each class is held every other school day. Depending on the student's 3rd/7th block class, the student may have either "A" or "B" lunch, with "A" being the earlier lunch of the two. Both lunches last 38 minutes, including passing period.

A Lunch Schedule

B Lunch Schedule

Between each class is a passing period that is 10 minutes long.

Courses

Currently, Niwot High School offers a variety of courses in the following subjects:

• Art
• Family Studies
• Music
• Business
• Foreign Language
• Physical Education
• Career Development
• General Electives
• Science
• Drama
• HILT
• Social Studies
• English
• Math
• Technology

Music Department

Beyond the standard academic courses, Niwot High School also boasts a widely recognized music department . It is split into three sub-departments; Orchestra, Band, and Choir.

Band

Marching Band

The Cougar Marching Band is one of the most visible groups in the school, as it performs at all home football games as well as most parades in Niwot, Colorado and Longmont, Colorado. The group does not require an audition. It also has two sub-sections, both of which are audition only - drum line and color guard. The marching band has no set size, ranging from around 80 to 140 students throughout the years. The band is led by three drum majors who have gone through extensive interviews and auditions to obtain the position.

Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band

The newest addition to the band department, the Wind Ensemble is a small group that consists of only a few people for each part, and is the top performance group in the band department.

The Symphonic Band is the lower ranked band, being a larger group with more people on one part.

Jazz I - III

Jazz I is the advanced jazz band, and is a classic 17-piece big band. The group's main focus is performance, though jazz theory is also lightly studied. The group continually works towards excellence, usually scoring "Superior" ratings at the Skyline Jazz Festival and is always ready to play a gig.

Jazz II is the intermediate jazz band. Jazz II has long been the band that serves to give an introduction into jazz, with the intent of getting as many students introduced to jazz as possible while still being a performance-based group. This group has varied in size through the years, initially being about twice the size of Jazz I to being easily over three times the size of Jazz I.

Jazz III is the newest jazz band, added in the 2007-2008 school year. The purpose of Jazz III is to introduce students to jazz.

Choir

Currently there are three non-audition groups and four audition groups.

Non-Audition Groups

These groups all serve as an introduction to choir and singing for those students who have never sang before or are unable to make it into an audition choir, all being performance based groups.

• Varsity Men's Choir - an all-male choir.
• 9th Grade Treble - an all 9th-grade female choir.
• Concert Chorus - for all males and females.

Audition Groups

• Sedalia - an all female audition choir with a performance focus.

• Evenstar - the jazz/show choir of Niwot High School, being open to both males and females. Evenstar performs everything from jazz standards to legendary musical numbers, even delving into the realm of many famous pop songs.

• Chamber Singers - the classical choir of Niwot High School and the second-hardest to get into, accepting both males and females and typically having smaller numbers accepted than Evenstar. Chamber Singers focuses mostly on classical choral music, but they have also been known to perform very contemporary pieces.

• Cantible - a unique choir in that it is not a class the meets during the school day, but instead rehearses after school on Fridays. It is by far the most difficult choir to get into, with only about five people per voicing and a pre-requisite of already being in an audition choir to even be eligible to audition for Cantible (though there have been occasional exceptions to the rule in special cases). This choir is very similar to Chamber Singers in the style of music they perform, revolving around classical and contemporary pieces.

Orchestra

Symphony Orchestra

The Symphony Orchestra is an audition-only group that is a standard Symphony Orchestra setup, including wind, brass, percussion, and string sections. The group is an entirely performance-based group, where learning is achieved through the rehearsal and performance of challenging Symphony Orchestra literature. The group has a strong reputation of excellence, achieving various awards and honors throughout the years.

In the 2006-2007 school year, the Symphony Orchestra was invited to take part in the 2007 National Orchestra Cup, where it took 3rd Place against the top youth orchestras from across the United States with the performance of "Russian Easter Overture".

In the 2007-2008 school year, the Orchestra was invited to perform at the Colorado Music Educators Association Conference, the highest honor an orchestra can receive in the state of Colorado.

For the 2008-2009 school year, the Orchestra has been invited to Atlanta, Georgia to perform again on a national scale. The group was also invited to a competition in Austria, but turned the invitation down due to district policy.

String Orchestra

Along with Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra department also has a String Orchestra, which consists only of string instruments. The String Orchestra is a much more relaxed group, being an non-audition group with a much lighter performance schedule. The group is for musicians at Niwot who are unable to perform with the Symphony Orchestra, where the majority of students being freshmen and/or less serious musicians. Still, it is a performance-based group that has a strong focus on teaching students classical music through the rehearsal and performance of standard orchestra literature.

Musical

Another excellent addition to Niwot's music department is its yearly musical. The number of students who take an active role in the musical varies, depending on which musical is selected, how many students audition, and how it is rehearsed.

Every year, Niwot High School performs a musical. Every three years the school puts on a major musical, one that involves students from all music departments and a pit orchestra. For these larger productions the auditions and rehearsals all take place after school, making it a fully extracurricular activity. Typically, since there are more actors and a true pit orchestra, these larger productions are usually more elaborate and difficult musicals.

Between those years, a smaller scale musical is performed by the Musical Theatre class, which performs a musical during the fall semester, and a "musical revue" during the spring semester. Rehearsals take place primarily during the school day, although occasional after-school rehearsals are necessary, especially the week before the opening of the musical.

In the past years students of Niwot High School have put on the productions of "South Pacific", "Into the Woods", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Aida". In the fall of 2008 Niwot will present Little Shop of Horrors, Showing November 13-16.

Athletics

Niwot High School is also proud to be home of distinguished athletes, competing against local high school rivals such as Longmont High School, Skyline High School, and Silver Creek High School.

The athletic programs at Niwot High include:

Niwot's football team has made it to the 3A Playoffs in 2001, 2004, 2005, and in 2002, made it to the 4A playoffs as well. Meanwhile, the Niwot baseball team has won the 4A State Championships in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2005. Not to mention, the Cougars were also recognized as Legion A State Champs in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Niwot Golf team also won the Northern Conference for Golf in 2006 with golfers finishing 1st and 4th in their conference. Other outstanding athletic programs that Niwot offers include:

• Football
• Boys' and Girls' Volleyball
• Boys' and Girls' Basketball
• Boys' and Girls' Swimming
• Boys' and Girls' Soccer
• Boys' and Girls' Tennis
• Track and Field
• Cross Country
• Cheerleading
• Girls' Softball
• Gymnastics
• Golf
• Wrestling

Extra Curricular Activities

• South Paw Newspaper
• Book Club
• Yearbook
• Student Council
• Color Guard
• Dance Team
• Forensics
• FIRST Robotics (team #1552)
• Habitat for Humanity
• Amnesty International
• National Honor Society
• Knowledge Master team
• Drama
• Tech Crew
• Odyssey of the Mind (OM)
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)

Education Foundation

Niwot High School also has an education foundation. The NHS Education Foundation is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization founded in 1994 on the principle that children are our most precious resource. Charged with the mission of enhancing and enriching student learning, NHSEF contributes to every student in the NHS community through mini-grants, major grants, fellowships, scholarships, and departmental awards. Through fund-raising efforts, as well as corporate and individual donations, the Foundation has distributed annually, an average in excess of $22,000 over the last five years. To become involved in the Foundation, contact Niwot High School.

External links

• School website

Notes

1. "Colorado High School Baseball Championship Games" (PDF).

• High schools in Colorado
• International Baccalaureate schools