New Lincoln high school to limit grade offerings

The school will open in the fall with 223 ninth-graders, 77 tenth-graders and 78 eleventh-graders.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Northwest High School will be opening in the fall without a 12th grade, due to the low number of students enrolled in the senior class.

The school will open in the fall with 223 9th graders, 77 10th graders and 78 11th graders. According to LPS, only 41 incoming seniors submitted the required paperwork to attend the new high school.

The 12th graders who enrolled at Northwest will automatically be re-enrolled in their current high schools.

LPS says they will now be able to focus on offering robust opportunities and high school to the greatest number of students.

Northwest expects they will eventually meet the designed 1,000 student capacity of the school.

“The good news is students and families know that they are getting a quality education where they currently attend high school and don’t want to leave,” said Superintendent Steve Joel. “Our goal was to open a full high school to help ease the overcrowding at our current high schools. We are proud to provide the option for students to choose where they attend high school. However, that does provide unique planning challenges as we open new buildings.”

Northwest High School plans to still open the new Bryan College of Health Sciences Focus Program for students.  Athletics will also be available and the school will work to have as many varsity level programs as possible.

LPS students in grades 8-10, who might be interested in attending Northwest and have not turned in their High School Choice Form, must return the form as soon as possible.

“We owe it to our community to be efficient with our resources. By using this opening approach we will be able to assign our staff to where the students are enrolled,” said Joel.