North Little Rock High School

History

Built in 1890, North Little Rock's (Argenta's) first high school was called North Side High School, later Clendenin Hill High School (site of present day Argenta Alternative Academy at 13th & Main Streets).

In 1912, Argenta High School was constructed at 4th and Willow Streets. The rapid northward growth of North Little Rock in the mid-1920s resulted in a doubling of school enrollment. In 1928, as the need for a new high school increased, the North Little Rock School Board selected the corner of 22nd and Main Streets as the new construction site for North Little Rock High School. As a result, North Side High School became a junior high school.

The North Little Rock High School was constructed beginning in 1928 and completed in 1930. Little Rock architect George R. Mann of the firm Peterson, William, Mann, Wanger & King designed the high school as a light colored brick and concrete building in an Art-Deco style. Also in 1928, an annex was constructed and the former Hickory Street School (originally Argenta Black School) was renamed as Scipio A. Jones High School, an African-American school named after the prominent civil rights activist and lawyer, starts teaching students through graduation. Between 1956 and 1959, North Little Rock High School served students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grade for nearby City of Sherwood before the construction of Sylvan Hills High School was completed.

In 1970, the North Little Rock School District closed Jones Junior-Senior High School as a result of desegregation and the city established a new integrated public high school and thus integrated and renamed the then 40-year-old classic art-deco facility along Main Street as Ole Main High School and named the new facility as Northeast High School. For the next twenty years, the Northeast Chargers served as a natural rival for the Ole Main Wildcats. Then in 1990, the school district consolidated the two schools as North Little Rock High School East Campus (formerly Northeast) for ninth and tenth grades and North Little Rock High School West Campus (formerly Ole Main) for eleventh and twelfth grades. As a result of the consolidation, the schools' new mascot became the Charging Wildcats as it remains today. In 1993, North Little Rock High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2012, the city of North Little Rock passed a millage to integrate the school into one campus for all high schoolers, grades 9-12. Construction for the new building and demolition of old ones began the following school year. The district had to shuffle grades to different campuses to allow for it. The new high school is predicted to be functioning in the 2015 - 2016 school year.

Curriculum

The school's assumed course of study is based on the Smart Core curriculum developed by the Arkansas Department of Education. The school offers coursework and exams in Advanced Placement (AP) and since 1992 offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. Additionally, the school is a member of the EAST (Environmental And Spatial Technologies) Initiative that allows students to familiarize themselves with technology through partnerships with technology firms.

The school's teachers received the 1982, 1990, and 1997 Arkansas Teacher of the Year awards by the state's education department and the 1979 and 1987 Bandmaster of the Year award by the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association.

Extracurricular activities

The school's mascot and athletic emblem is the Charging Wildcat with royal blue and gold serving as the school colors.

Athletics

For 2012–14, the Charging Wildcats participate in numerous interscholastic sports and events from the 7A Classification—the state's largest classification—within the 7A Central Conference administered by the Arkansas Activities Association including: baseball, basketball (boys'/girls'), bowling (boys'/girls'), cheer (boys'/girls'), cross country (boys'/girls'), dance, debate, football, golf (boys'/girls'), soccer (boys'/girls'), softball, speech, swimming (boys'/girls'), tennis (boys'/girls'), track (boys'/girls'), volleyball and wrestling.

Theatre Arts

NLRHS is proud to have a long tradition as one of the largest speech, drama, and dance programs in the state of Arkansas. NLRHS presents three main stage productions, two dance concerts, a dessert theater night, hosts one of the largest speech and debate competitions in central Arkansas. NLRHS employs 11 incredibly talented faculty and educates approximately 500 students in ALL aspects of the speech, dance, and theater arts. The forensics team in 2016 sent its first students to compete at the National Forensics competition held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The students, William Gould and Ginger Rhodes, placed within the top 60 in the nation.

Championship seasons

Awards and recognition

The girls' softball team from 2001 to 2003 hold a state record 41 consecutive wins with a state record of 34 wins during the 2002 season. Playing for Scipio A. Jones High School, Eddie Miles averaged 30.3 points per game during his senior year and led the Golden Dragons to four consecutive black school state championships. Between 1987-1990, Paula Juels won four consecutive individual state tennis championships (state record) while leading the North Little Rock Northeast Chargers to three team championships.

Clubs and traditions

Beyond athletic completion, students are provided opportunities to participate in programs such as National Honor Society, National Beta Club, Junior Rotarian program, Arkansas Governor's School, Unitown, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Teachers of Tomorrow, Key Club, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), National Forensic League Arkansas District, Ladies & Gentlemen Club, VICA, Interact Club, Mu Alpha Theta, Health Occupations Students of America, and Student Council.

Senior Roll Night is an unofficial school tradition dating back to the early 1990s that takes place each summer on the night before the first day of school. The senior class spends the night toilet papering the houses of the junior class. It is also common for toilets, mattresses, and other random objects to be spray painted with school colors and left on lawns.

Awards and recognition

In 1988, the school's yearbook The Wildcat was inducted in the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) All-American Hall of Fame for its numerous National Pacemaker Awards it had received in previous years. In 2002, the school's literary magazine "Legend" grabbed a NSPA Best of Show Award.

Notable alumni

The following are notable people associated with North Little Rock High School (or its predecessors). If the person was a North Little Rock High School student, the number in parentheses indicates the year of graduation; if the person was a faculty or staff member, that person's title and years of association are included: