- Northeast High School (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
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For schools of the same name, see Northeast High School (disambiguation).
Northeast High School Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
United StatesInformation Type Public secondary Established 1890 Principal Ms. Linda Caroll Grades 9–12 Enrollment Approximately 3,600 Color(s) Black and Red Mascot Vikings Website http://www.nehs1.com Northeast High School is a high school located at 1601 Cottman Avenue (intersecting Algon Avenue) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Northeast is one of the oldest high schools in Philadelphia, founded in 1890 as the Northeast Manual Training School. Before 1957, it was located at 8th Street and Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia (and later became Thomas Edison High School). As of 2011 Northeast High School will have had 170 Graduating Classes. Some of the best known alumni include Herb Adderley (hall of fame football player), Eddie Stanky (major league baseball player and manager), Guy Rodgers (hall of fame basketball player), Carlos I. Mina (hall of fame soccer play) and Sonny Hill (organizer of Philadelphia summer basketball leagues).
The high school was featured in the A&E series Teach: Tony Danza, where actor Tony Danza taught a tenth grade English class during the 2009-2010 school year. It was also the setting for Frederick Wiseman's documentary on high schools in the 1960's and was simply titled, High School.
The Northeast High School website is located at http://NEHS1.com and has been developed and maintained by Northeast's web design classes.
Contents
Population
Northeast high school currently has about 3,600 students, making it the most populated high school in the city of Philadelphia. When including the teachers and staff, the school contains more than 3,700 people. Congestion in the hallways when changing classes has caused traffic in many intersections of the school, including the infamous "cross-roads" where the physical education, science, and other classes collide. Some classes struggle to maintain a maximum of 33 students, as the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) contract requires.
Demographics
Northeast high school students comes from very diverse racial, economic, and cultural backgrounds. According to the school profile generated by the School District of Philadelphia the racial makeup of the school is 35% African American, 23.8% Whites, 22% Asian, 16.8% Latino, and 2.3% other races. 12.1% of the school students are English Language Learners. 12.9% with disabilities and 5% of the students are mentally gifted. 58.3% are economically disadvantaged (Student who is a member of a household that meets the income eligibility guidelines for free or reduced-price meals).
Transportation Access
Northeast High School is easily accessed by SEPTA bus routes 19, 59, 67, 70, and 77. These routes connect with several other routes in the area such as 1, 14, 18, 19, 20, 24, 58, and the Fox Chase Regional Rail line at Ryers Station.
Many students who live out of the immediate area get to school by one of these bus routes from across the city. For those students who live in areas further than a mile away from the school SEPTA provides them with free weekly bus transpasses.
Rivalries
Northeast High School and Central High School have the longest running sports rivalry between public high schools in the country, dating back to 1892.[1] The apex of this rivalry comes on Thanksgiving when the two schools football teams square off against one another. As of 2010, the record of wins and loses for Northeast High School is: W-54, L-51, T-10. Northeast High School shut out the Central High School Lancers twice in the 2008 Season.
Teams
Northeast High School has many sports teams, all of which are known as The Vikings. The Girl's Field Hockey team has won the Public League Championship the last four years. The Wrestling team went undefeated and won the school's first championship in wrestling beating Thomas Edison High School 45 to 26 on January 29, 2009. The Football team won the AAAA Public League Championship after beating George Washington High School 13-6 on November 13, 2010. This is the first championship for the Football team in 27 years (The last championship was 1983).
Programs in NEHS
Northeast High School has many different programs known as Small Learning Communities (SLCs). Two of these SLCs are the Aerospace, Medical and Engineering Magnet Program and the IB Diploma Programme which both accept students from all sections of Philadelphia that were among the top of their classes in their previous schools. There are also SLCs for those who want to be in the fields of business, medicine, and media as well as many others. Northeast also boasts an award winning student newspaper, The Megaphone. The Northeast High School Instrumental Music is one of the most diverse and sought after music programs in the City of Philadelphia. The Program includes a Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and a String Ensemble. On May 2009 the Northeast High School Instrumental program competed and won first place in Orchestra, String Ensemble, and second place Concert Band at Hershey Park, Pennsylvania.
Project Space Research Center (SPARC)
Northeast High gained some notoriety with their SPARC program originated in 1962 by Mr. Robert A. G. Montgomery, Jr. Originally called the Project SPAce Research Capsule, SPARC was recognized by the Government as the first program of its kind ever attempted. Northeast High students united designed and built a three-man space capsule mock-up to test the student "astronauts ability to handle the space environment. Interest in Project SPARC was stimulated in industry and the School District Administration. With the help of a grant from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Heart Association, the program purchased electronic equipment and began to study in flight control instrumentation. Project SPARC was so highly recognized for its work that, during the summer of 1963, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) invited 18 SPARC students to tour the Marshall Space Flight Center, Manned Spacecraft Center, Cape Canaveral, and the Goddard Space Flight Center.
By the end of 1963, the students had designed a simulated capsule and control area, and construction began on a wing of the stage at Northeast High School, Philadelphia, PA. The Home and School Association and the Alumni Association made many contributions to aid SPARC. In early May 1964, the first capsule test took place. The chamber was constructed as a closed oxygen-replenishment system.
SPARC has attempted several simulations in a few different simulators to the moon, orbits around the earth, and to Mars. Project SPARC membership in 2010 included almost two hundred students classified as full-time members. These students have regular responsibilities in the areas of their specialties and operate all research activities.
SPARC Project, 2010
The SPARC Project was updated in the 2000s to pursue the goals of President George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration. Project SPARC was realigned to simulate the NASA Constellation program and its mission to return to the moon. In 2009 Project SPARC flew its first Constellation mission, sending six students to the moon and establishing a two-module lunar habitat. SPARC facilities include a 21' Shuttle Orbiter mockup built by the students, the actual Apollo training capsule from NASA, an eight station mission control center, a movie and animation learning center and electronics and robotics laboratories. Students can utilize a new facility which incorporates computer and electronic action scripts, video presentations and simulations. Like the SPARC project in the 1960s, they are able to simulate the experience of operating a spaceborne mission. Project SPARC's honorary Flight Director is Philadelphia astronaut Chris Ferguson, who has visited the facility and held video teleconferences with the SPARC students from the Houston pace Center.[2]
School Library The school features a state of the art library including print and digital reference materials. http://www.nehslibrary.info
Notable alumni
- Herb Adderley (hall of fame football player)[3]
- Butch Ballard (jazz drummer)
Pete Ciarrocchi (founder, Chickie & Pete's sports bar chain)
- Angelo Coia (former professional football player)
- Amy Eilberg (first female Conservative Rabbi and first female graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America)
- Howard Eskin (Philadelphia radio 610 WIP & television sports reporter & personality)
- David Feldman (songwriter)
- Donna Ivery (Fashion Model, Member Screen Actors Guild, NASA Pre-Service Teachers Institute, Ninety-Nines )
- Sonny Hill (organizer of Philadelphia summer basketball leagues)
- Scott Linn (Washington D.C. sports radio talk-show host)
- David Mirkin (feature film and television director, writer, producer)
- Diane Renay (pop singer)
- Guy Rodgers (hall of fame basketball player)
- Steven Smith (Two-time Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Player of the Year )
- Eddie Stanky (major league baseball player and manager)
- Lou Tilley (former Philadelphia television sports reporter & announcer)
- Karen Young (pop singer)
- Charles Way (former professional football player)
- Brent Grimes (Cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons)
- Jesse Levis (Former Major League baseball player and current Phillies scout)
- Howard Freiling (Former professional baseball player and current Phillies scout)
- Robert Baba Bob Shipman (Journalist, community organizer social worker)
- Darryl Clark (Democratic City Councilman)
School Pranks
In 2008, a widely publicized prank was orchestrated by members of the 167 class that involved the release of 100 chickens into the school with 167 spray painted on several lockers. The media further exaggerated the prank by saying the class would be punished to the full extent of the law. In the end of this incident no one was arrested or prosecuted for it.
References
- ^ Huber, Robert. "Philadelphicon: Northeast vs. Central". http://www.phillymag.com/articles/pulse_philadelphicon_northeast_vs_central/. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ Adding a SPARC to a simulated moon trip, By John Loftus, Times Staff Writer, May 5, 2010.
- ^ Windhausen, John D (2002) [1992]. Dawson, Dawn P. ed. Great Athletes. 1 (Revised ed.). Salem Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 1-58765-008-8.
External links
Categories:- High schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- School District of Philadelphia
- Project SPARC
- Educational institutions established in 1890
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