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Niles West High School

Niles West High School (NWHS), officially Niles Township High School West, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, in the United States. NWHS is part of the Niles Township Community High School District 219, which also includes Niles North High School. The name of the school teams originally was the Indians, which later was changed to the Wolves, in 2001. The feeder middle-schools for NWHS are Lincoln Junior High School (Skokie), Fairview South School (Skokie), Lincoln Hall Middle School (Lincolnwood), Culver Middle School (Niles), and Park View School (Morton Grove). Niles West High School also matriculates many students from MCC Academy, Morton Grove, Illinois.

Niles West High School

1958

1728530[1]

Thomas Moore[2]

172853002988[1]

Jeremy Christian[3]

184.25 (FTE)[1]

2,609 (2022–23)[4]

14.16[1]

City: small[1]

  red
  white[5]

Niles West News

Spectrum

Academics[edit]

In 2007, Niles West had an average composite ACT score of 22.3, and graduated 93.2% of its senior class.[6] The average class size was 19.2.[6] In 2012, Newsweek ranked Niles West on its list of the Top 1000 Public Schools in the nation.


As of March 2020, many 8th or 7th graders have been attending Niles West High School as part as an off-level program.[7]

Student life[edit]

Activities[edit]

The "West Word" student newspaper has been awarded first place for seven years running, with special merit twice, by the American Scholastic Press Association Newspaper contest.[8] Starting in the 2010–2011 school year, the print newspaper was retired, renamed "Niles West News", and moved online.

Fine arts[edit]

In April 2007, both Niles West and Niles North received the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network and National School Boards Association Award for excellence in arts education.[9]


In summer 2010, the Niles West High School Theatre Department performed at the 2010 American High School Theatre Festival in Scotland.[10]


The Illinois Art Education Association awarded the Fine Arts Departments with three awards in 2020: Art Education Program of the Year, Patti-Anne Ford as the Art and Design Administrator of the Year, and Deanna Sortino as the Secondary Art Educator of the Year.[11]

Athletics[edit]

Niles West competes in the Central Suburban League and Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Teams are stylized as the Wolves.


Until the end of the 1999–2000 school year, the sports teams were known as Niles West Indians, a name which was changed to the Wolves so as not to offend Native Americans.[12]


Niles West sponsors interscholastic athletic teams for boys and girls in basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, water polo, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Boys may also compete in baseball and football. Girls can also compete on the wrestling team and may compete in softball. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors a poms team for girls.[13]


The baseball team has won two IHSA state championships (1971–72 and 1974–75).[14] The girls basketball team won the IHSA state championship in 1978-79.[14]


Niles West also won the IHSA state championship for boys gymnastics in 2016.[15]

Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; nominated by Barack Obama

Steven N. Berk

nonfiction writer[16][17]

Arnie Bernstein

bank robber[18]

Jeffrey Erickson

86th Attorney General of the United States (2021– )

Merrick Garland

drag queen and RuPaul's Drag Race contestant[19]

Kahmora Hall

NFL quarterback (1966–1984), most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals, selected to four Pro Bowls

Jim Hart (American football)

former Chief Judge of U.S. Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board

Paul Igasaki

UCLA law professor and university administrator, current presidential nominee for the National Council on the Humanities, advisory board for the National Endowment for the Humanities,

Jerry Kang

former San Francisco Giants pitcher and sports commentator for NBC Bay Area[20]

George Kontos

television host, author, and former magazine editor

George Kotsiopoulos

CEO of Calamos Investments

John S. Koudounis

founder of Match.com[21]

Gary Kremen

a professional basketball player currently playing for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA (league champion, 2018, 2020), Gold Medal, Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Her number 32 retired by Niles West High School.

Jewell Loyd

former football player, Huffington Post contributor, and writer for HBO's Ballers

Rashard Mendenhall

policy adviser[22]

George Papadopoulos

Assyrian American activist and politician[23][24]

Atour Sargon

editor-in-chief of Truthout and a writer focused on prison-related topics

Maya Schenwar

mastermind of 2019 college admissions bribery scandal[25]

Rick Singer

Styx drummer[26][27]

Todd Sucherman

American reality television personality, socialite, and businesswoman.

Larsa Pippen

convicted murderer

Jeanette Sliwinski

Standup comedian, screenwriter, Marvel actor, television & film producer.

Azhar Usman

Official website

District 219 Niles Township High Schools