The staff of 42 which includes a principal, an assistant principal, 2 guidance counselors, an athletic director, and a media specialist serves just over 550 students. The academic strengths at the school are exemplified by the fact that over 72 percent of the graduating seniors have been accepted at four-year colleges in recent years. Class offerings and student enrollment also indicate a high degree of emphasis on strong academic preparation. Northwestern High School specifically offers curricular areas for honors, academic, average, special education students as well as an award winning job skills program for mildly mentally handicapped students. Exploration of career opportunities are available through the School to Work program. The area vocational school of the greater Kokomo area provides many opportunities for students to train in specific skill areas. Indiana University-Kokomo and Ivy Tech also provide further educational opportunities. Summer school is made available for students wishing to enroll in driver education, government, English, trigonometry, and other courses where enrollment is sufficient.

Northwestern High School is a very academically competitive school. Follow up studies over a five-year period indicate that 72 percent of our graduates enter a four-year college and another nine percent enroll in two-year or technical colleges. As a consequence, the curriculum is very broad for a school of less than 600 students. It includes six years of science, five and � years of math, a wide range of practical arts courses, advanced placement courses in U. S. History, English, Chemistry, and Calculus, four foreign languages, advanced music classes and an award winning art program.

Northwestern High School prides itself in providing programs for all levels of students. Many special areas and activities exist which encourage growth and challenge the students, including science fairs, academic competition teams, spell bowl teams, gifted and talented education, cadet teaching, EXCEL Resource Room, and peer helpers. Extra-curricular activities are available for students in many areas. An activity period is offered every other week for club meetings. Publication opportunities are also available for students through the student newspaper and the yearbook. Drama productions are presented twice a year. The athletic program is one of the most extensive of any school its size. Over 70 percent of the student population participated in one or more of the 20 sports. Sectional championships have recently been earned in boys soccer, football, softball, volleyball and girls golf, while conference championships have been earned in boys tennis, boys soccer, volleyball, football, girls basketball, boys basketball and girls golf. Boys basketball has also won the class 2A regional championship. During the 1996-97 school year, 49 of 127 graduating seniors earned the Indiana Academic Honors Diploma. Students from Northwestern High School have repeatedly been selected as State Science and Engineering Fair finalists, International Science and Engineering Fair finalists, Indiana Junior Academy of Science finalists, finishers in the top 10 of the State FFA Crop Judging Contest, and National Merit Finalists.

The Northwestern School Community has a rural setting; however, most students live in subdivisions. Since much of the area land is farmed the new Chrysler plant is the only significant industry in the corporation. There are many families who have had several generations of children graduate from Northwestern. This has created continuity in and enhances the pride of the school. Most parents have some kind of education beyond high school. Also, many parents are employed in a professional occupation. The High School attendance rate for 1996-97 was 95.45%. The graduation rate was 97.11 %. The students, staff, faculty, and community take great pride in the school's curricular and extra-curricular programs. "Purple Pride" reigns not only on the athletic fields, but in the halls and classrooms of the school as well.

For more information about Northwestern High School, please visit our web site by following the link listed above.