Neenah High School

Neenah High School
Location
Map
500 Rocket Way

,
Coordinates44°11′45″N 88°31′08″W / 44.19583°N 88.51889°W / 44.19583; -88.51889
Information
TypePublic
School districtNeenah Joint S.D.
PrincipalBrian Wunderlich
Staff115.23 (FTE)[1]
Grades912
Enrollment1,943 (2022-23)[1]
Student to teacher ratio16.86[1]
Color(s)Red & White    
AthleticsWIAA – Div. 1
Athletics conferenceFox Valley Association
MascotRocket
RivalsMenasha
NewspaperSatellite
YearbookThe Rocket
Feeder schoolsShattuck M.S.
WebsiteNeenah High School

The new campus at 500 Rocket Way
Neenah High School, 19th century.

Neenah High School is a public high school located in Neenah, Wisconsin. It is the only traditional high school of the Neenah Joint School District. As of fall 2008, approximately 2250 students were enrolled in grades 9 through 12, making it one of the largest schools in the state.[2] The school colors are red and white and the mascot is a rocket.

History

[edit]

Originally named Armstrong High School after Neil Armstrong, the current high school building was built in the 1970s. A middle school (Conant Jr High School) on the same campus, constructed in the late 1960s, was made a part of Armstrong in the 1980s, prompting a name change to Neenah High School. A third building connecting the two ("The Link"), was built in the middle 1990s.[3] A successful 2020 referendum budgeted $115 million for a new high school to be built in the town of Neenah, although the village of Fox Crossing later annexed the land. The new high school opened for the 2023-2024 school year. The old high school was converted into a new middle school for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, thus replacing Shattuck Middle School; it closed in June 2023[4][5] and sold to an investor in August 2023 to be converted to residential apartments.[6]

Academics

[edit]

Before the 2019–2020 school year, NHS switched from a traditional daily schedule to a block schedule.[7] Advanced Placement classes are offered at Neenah, and about 30 percent of students take an AP exam.[8]

Extracurricular activities

[edit]

Athletics

[edit]
The Ron Einerson fieldhouse during the 2019 graduation ceremony.

Rockets athletic teams have a rivalry with nearby high school Kimberly.[9] The Rockets' boys' basketball team finished second in Division I at the state basketball tournament in 2014.[10] The team made three consecutive returns to the Division I state tournament in the 2020's, winning outright in 2022 against Brookfield Central, and losing in the first round to Arrowhead in 2023 and 2024.[11] [12] The Girls' Basketball team also took second in the Division I state tournament in 2024. [13] The boys' cross country team won the state championship in 1963, and 2018.[14]

Performing arts

[edit]

Neenah has two competitive show choirs, an advanced group called Vintage and an intermediate group called Act II. Additionally Neenah High School has one advanced orchestra group known as Touch of Class, a group which often performs around the Fox Valley and abroad[15]

Media

[edit]

Neenah High was featured on an episode of the MTV television series If You Really Knew Me which aired on Tuesday, September 14, 2010.[16]

Notable alumni

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Neenah High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Welcome to the official website of the Neenah Joint School District". Neenah Joint School District. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  3. ^ Miracle, Evan (November 15, 2018). "A Brief History of the Men Who Built NHS". Neenah Satellite. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  4. ^ West, Samantha (April 13, 2020). "Neenah Joint School District voters support $115M referendum, making it the largest in Fox Valley history". Appleton Post-Crescent. Gannett. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  5. ^ "Fox Crossing annexes new Neenah High School site". WLUK. Sinclair Broadcast Group. June 23, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  6. ^ staff, WBAY news (August 16, 2023). "Neenah school board sells Shattuck Middle School to local investor". Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Fisher, Jason (November 13, 2018). "District Considers Changes for 2019-'20 School Year". Neenah Satellite. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  8. ^ "Neenah High Test Scores". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "High school football: Neenah, Kimberly set to renew old rivalry". Appleton Post-Crescent. September 20, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  10. ^ "WIAA basketball: Neenah falls to Germantown in Division 1 state championship". Appleton Post-Crescent. March 16, 2014. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  11. ^ "Boys' Basketball Players Reflect on Uphill Battles During Season, 4th State Title in Team History". March 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "Neenah High School (WI) Varsity Basketball".
  13. ^ "Schedule - Neenah Rockets (Neenah, WI) Girls Varsity Basketball 24-25".
  14. ^ 2019 State Cross Country Meet Souvenir Program. Wisconsin Rapids, WI: Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. November 2, 2019. p. 25.
  15. ^ "SCC: Viewing School - Neenah High School". www.showchoir.com. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  16. ^ ""If You Really Knew Me" Neenah High: Neenah, WI (TV episode 2010)". IMDb. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  17. ^ "COMMON COUNCIL MINUTES" (PDF). May 3, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  18. ^ ""Erik Metzig enters mental disease or defect not guilty plea in deaths of Union Star cheesemakers"". YahooNews. September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
[edit]