North Farmington High School

North Farmington High School
Address
32900 West 13 Mile Road
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334
United States
Coordinates 42°30′52″N 83°22′33″W / 42.5144787°N 83.3757669°W / 42.5144787; -83.3757669Coordinates: 42°30′52″N 83°22′33″W / 42.5144787°N 83.3757669°W / 42.5144787; -83.3757669
Information
Type Comprehensive Public High School
Opened 1961
School district Farmington Public Schools
Superintendent George Heitsch[1]
CEEB code 231406
Principal Joseph F. Greene, Jr.[2]
Faculty 85 (on full-time equivalent (FTE) basis)
Grades 9 to 12
Gender coed
Enrollment 1,259 (2015-16[3])
Campus type Suburban
Color(s) Brown and Gold          
Mascot Sidney Raider (named after El Cid)
Rival Farmington High School
Newspaper The Northern Star
Website www.farmington.k12.mi.us/nfhs

North Farmington High School is located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit United States. The school was established in 1961, and, as of the 2015-2016 school year, educates a student body of 1,259. The current Principal is Joseph F. Greene, Jr.

History

In 1959, many homes in the Farmington Hills area were being built by families with older children, creating demand for a new junior and senior high school. The Board of Education put together a proposal asking voters to approve a $3 million dollar bond for:

  1. The construction of a new junior-senior high school on a site at 13 Mile Road and Farmington Road
  2. The construction of two new elementary schools
  3. The renovation of existing schools

The proposal was passed by voters and the final outcome of the vote was 1,618 in favor and 1,276 opposed. In January 1960, the School Board appointed Harold Humble, an assistant principal at Farmington High School, to principal of the new school. The suggested name “Farmington Northern High,” was later changed to “North Farmington High School.”

It was not until the summer of 1960 that the architectural plans were approved for the new High School. As construction continued in January 1961, the School Board unanimously approved the proposed color scheme of “shades of brown and yellow.” North Farmington High School opened on September 7, 1961 but lacked many needed supplies such as chalk boards. There were 598 students from grades 7-10 who attended that first day.

Students chose the name "Raiders" as their mascot but a personal identity was needed for the Raider, so the art class designed the original Raider logo that is still being used today and was named “El Cid.” As time went on, the Raider was increasingly referred to as the “Sidney Raider.” It is a school tradition for a student to anonymously dress up as Sidney, wearing the traditional NF cape, buccaneer hat, and Zorro-style mask, and attend high-profile North Farmington sports events in order to spark excitement in the crowd.

In addition to its strong academic tradition,[4] North Farmington is also noted for its strong theater, music, art, and athletic programs. It also has a high level of alumni and community involvement, with fund raising efforts leading to the construction "Raider Plaza" at the athletic field, Holland Field. In addition to its two artificial turf fields and parquet gym floor, the school also features a performing arts wing, completed in 1999, that houses the Farmington Public Schools district television station, TV-10.

On September 8, 2008, the school hosted a campaign stop by Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama.[5] He spoke to a crowd of area voters in the school's gymnasium. During the town hall-style meeting, Mr. Obama announced to the audience that the 2009 Michigan Principal of the Year award was being awarded to then North Farmington principal Richard Jones.[6]

Another notable point of interest: the 37th District Court (Farmington's judicial authority)is held once a year in the school's gym.

Towards the end of the 2010-2011 school year, the building itself was renamed the "Richard B. Jones Academic Center", in honor of the outgoing principal, so that the organization North Farmington High School is at the Richard B. Jones Academic Center. The west wing (fine arts wing) of the school was named the "Dean and Sue Cobb Center for the Performing Arts" for Dean and Sue Cobb, North's directors of plays and musicals, who left the same year.

Academics

In the 2012-2013 graduating class, 93% of graduates enrolled in a college or university: 69% enrolled in four-year universities, and 24% enrolled in two-year colleges. The remaining 7% of graduates joined the workforce, military, or had other post graduation plans. Of those attending two-year colleges/technical schools, public universities, or private colleges following graduation, 89% (278 of 313 graduates) remained in-state and attended Michigan educational institutions.[7] In the 2013 graduating class, one student was a National Merit Finalists and two were commended. Out of 630 Advanced Placement exams taken, 471 (75%) received a score of 3 or better.

North Farmington does not assign class rank.[7] If college applications require class rank information, for scholarships or otherwise, North Farmington will include a letter stating that the school does not rank students, as well as the rationale behind the decision not to perform ranking.

Enrollment and graduation history

Enrollment for North Farmington has fluctuated by several hundred students since its doors first opened in 1961, peaking in the first two decades. Additionally, the size of the faculty has usually fluctuated by about a dozen, even in recent years, which can be seen if full-time teaching staff in the more recent annual reports is compared to the number of teachers listed in the accreditation information published for the school's earlier years.

School Year Enrollment Number of Graduates Number of Teachers/Staff Principal Source(s)
1964-1965 N/A 297 58[Note 1] Harold Humble [8]
1966-1967 1656 318 66[Note 1] Harold Humble [9]
1971-1972 1513 416 59[Note 1] C. Graham [10]
1978-1979 1235 392 49[Note 1] C. Graham [11]
1981-1982 1421 381 61[Note 1] C. Graham [12]
1983-1984 1423 360 63[Note 1] C. Graham [13]
2005-2006 1358 N/A 77[Note 2] Rick Jones [14]
2007-2008 1367 N/A 83[Note 2] Rick Jones [4]
2010-2011 1371 335 64[Note 3] Rick Jones [3][15][16]
2012-2013 1335 337 85[Note 2] Joseph Greene [3][7]
2013-2014 1283 322 85[Note 2] Joseph Greene [3][17]
2014-2015 1246 298 N/A Joseph Greene [3][18]
2015-2016 1259 N/A N/A Joseph Greene [3]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Taken from "Number of high school teachers"
  2. 1 2 3 4 Taken as X from "There are X professional teaching staff members and appropriate staff to meet special needs."
  3. ↑ Taken as X from "There are X full-time and Y part-time professional staff members and appropriate staff to meet special needs."

Test scores

The State of Michigan publishes the ACT test scores for all of the schools in the state.[3] Since 2006, the ACT test scores for North Farmington have exceeded the national, state, and district averages, and have been higher than scores for both Farmington High School and Harrison High school, making them the highest in the district. The scores for North Farmington are as follows:

School Year Composite Score English Score Reading Score Mathematics Score Science Score Number of Students Tested
2014-2015 21.9 21.9 21.8 21.2 22.2 345
2013-2014 22.4 22.3 22.2 22.1 22.5 301
2012-2013 22.5 22.1 21.9 22.7 22.8 318
2011-2012 22.4 22.3 21.9 22.3 22.6 342
2010-2011 21.7 21.2 21.8 21.4 21.9 320
2009-2010 22.0 21.7 21.9 21.7 22.2 344
2008-2009 22.4 22.1 22.6 22.2 22.2 364
2007-2008 22.1 21.8 21.8 22.1 22.3 353
2006-2007 21.9 21.7 22.1 21.5 22.0 329

The state of Michigan is an ACT testing state, and as such, only a limited number of North Farmington students take the SAT test each year. Scores are not subject to publication in the MI School Data repository, and therefore historical data is limited. Available SAT score information follows:

School Year Total Score Critical Reading Section Math Section Writing Section Number of Students Tested Source(s)
2013-2014 1862 605 647 610 29 [17]
2012-2013 1884 608 660 616 31 [7]
2010-2011 1792 587 617 588 32 [16]

For the past seven years (2007–2013), North Farmington students have received more scores of "3" on the Advanced Placement exams than the Michigan average.[15][19][20][21]

Data 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Total AP Students 222 221 300 327 295 333 352 330
Number of Exams 376 402 536 571 460 511 630 573
AP Students with Scores 3+ 172 185 234 244 204 239 244 224
NFHS % of Total AP Students with Scores 3+ 77.5 83.7 78 74.6 69.2 71.8 69.3 67.9
Michigan % of Total AP Students with Scores 3+ 66.3 64.4 66.0 66.0 65.5 66.6 66.9 66.5[22]

Notable alumni

Publications

The Northern Star

The Northern Star is North Farmington's news magazine. It is published bi-monthly by the advanced journalism class and is sold for one dollar. In 2007, several newspaper staff members were selected by Michigan Interscholastic Press Association as Student Winners. The same year, the newspaper staff won a Spartan Award.[26] The online edition of The Northern Star was awarded a Columbia University Silver Crown Award in 2011.[27]

Aurora

The yearbook class publishes the Aurora. The 2006 edition won a Michigan Interscholastic Press Association award. The 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 editions won a Spartan award, the highest award given to a publication by the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. Both publications have been in print since the school's inception.

References

  1. ↑ "Administrator Directory". Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
  2. ↑ "North Farmington High School - Administration - Administrators". Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "MI School Data Student Testing". State of Michigan. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  4. 1 2 "North Farmington Annual Report, 2007-2008" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 17, 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Christoff, Chris; Gray, Kathleen (2008-09-09). "Obama: McCain 'mustn't be talking to people in Michigan'". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
  6. ↑ "North Farmington's Jones named Principal of the Year". candgnews.com. C & G Publishing. 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "School Profile 2012-2013" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2013. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  8. ↑ University of Michigan Official Publication (Volume 68, Issue 32 ed.). UM Libraries. 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  9. ↑ University of Michigan Official Publication (Volume 70, Issue 18 ed.). UM Libraries. 1968. p. 10. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
  10. ↑ Michigan Accredited Schools. University of Michigan. 1973. p. 9. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  11. ↑ The University of Michigan Accredited Schools. University of Michigan. 1981. p. 9. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
  12. ↑ The University of Michigan Accredited Schools. University of Michigan. 1983. p. 9. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  13. ↑ The University of Michigan Accredited Schools. University of Michigan. 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  14. ↑ "North Farmington Annual Report, 2005-2006" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2007. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  15. 1 2 "North Farmington High School Annual Report 2010-2011" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  16. 1 2 "North Farmington School Profile, 2011" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2012. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  17. 1 2 "School Profile 2013-2014" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  18. ↑ "School Profile 2014-2015" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  19. ↑ "North Farmington High School Annual Report 2011-2012" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  20. ↑ "North Farmington High School Annual Report 2012-2013" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  21. ↑ "North Farmington Annual Report, 2013-2014" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  22. ↑ "2013-2014 Annual Educational Report" (PDF). Stoney Creek High School. p. 6. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  23. ↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MahaDr20.htm
  24. ↑ Kenny, Matthew (October 22, 1969). "Gunman Forces Airliner To Cuba". The Dispatch. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  25. ↑ "Farmington Teen Hijacked Jetliner". The Owosso Argus-Press. AP. October 21, 1969. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  26. ↑ "Annual Report 2006 - 2007". Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  27. ↑ "North Farmington High Schools online paper The Northern Star wins as Silver Crown Award" (PDF). Farmington Public Schools. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
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