North Thurston High School

Facility

The current North Thurston High School campus was constructed in 1983; South Sound Stadium was added in 1985 and the Auditorium was added in 1995. NTHS' central building easily hit capacity within the first few years after being constructed. A flood of portables were brought in during the mid 80's to handle the student enrollment growth along with the 1993 construction of River Ridge High School. Several portables are still in use to handle the over-capacity demand on the NTHS campus.

The original North Thurston High School campus used to be located on what is now the student parking lot. This campus was constructed in 1954 and torn down in 1984. The old campus hosted Chinook Middle School students during the 1983-1984 year while Chinook's building went through a building remodel. Three original building from the old NTHS campus; NTPS' Bower Learning Center (the old high school library), the auto shop, and the school swimming pool were part of the old high school campus and are still in use. With the exception of the auto shop building, the pool and Bower Learning Center were recently remodeled in 2003.

As of 2011, a re-modernization project to remodel the 27-year-old North Thurston High School building is currently under development by North Thurston Public Schools and awaits funding. The project would take place in various yearly stages with students on campus. Some ideas being considered are a new gymnasium with expanded capacity, expansion of the current commons area into the current gymnasium, increased parking, additional building expansion to replace 27 portables, and modernization and safety upgrades of current classroom, hallway, and unused spaces.

School shooting

On April 27, 2015, around 7:20 a.m. (Pacific Time Zone) in Lacey, Washington a 16-year-old male student at the school fired two bullets from a .357 Magnum in the crowded high school commons before AP Government teacher Brady Olson grabbed and immobilized him. The Lacey police officer on duty at the school, Ed McClanahan, told KCPQ-TV that he had not been able to fire because "about a dozen" students were in his line of fire, and that Olson reached the shooter just before he thought he could get a clear shot at him. According to McClanahan, Olson "not only tackled him, but suplexed him onto the ground," enabling McClanahan to make the arrest. "It was pretty impressive," McClanahan said. Olson, who teaches advanced placement government and civics, had served several years in the military to earn money for college.

After the shooting, Olson said, "I did what any other teacher in the US would do, run towards the gunshots, not away." Many students ran out of the school and others sought shelter in classes. Some went to the Safeway store located behind the high school and surrounding neighborhoods. After being interrogated by the Lacey police department, the shooter said he never wanted to actually hurt any students, but only fired his gun to get the school resource officer to him. After some of the commotion settled down, school staff relocated remaining students the high school's football field for parents to pick their children up.

Notable alumni

Sports

North Thurston High School is a 3A-division member of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. It is a member of the Narrows League, which includes a combination of 4A and 3A schools.

State Championships, 2nd place:

Baseball - 1976, 1987; Boys Soccer - 1985; Girls Swimming - 1984; Boys Tennis - 1987; Boys Track and Field - 1987; Girls Track and Field - 1994