# Niles West High School

Niles West High School (NWHS), officially Niles Township High School West, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, in the United States. NWHS is part of the Niles Township Community High School District 219, which also includes Niles North High School. The name of the school teams originally was the Indians, which later was changed to the Wolves, in 2001. The feeder middle-schools for NWHS are Lincoln Junior High School (Skokie), Fairview South School (Skokie), Lincoln Hall Middle School (Lincolnwood), Culver Middle School (Niles), and Park View School (Morton Grove). Niles West High School also matriculates many students from MCC Academy, Morton Grove, Illinois.

## History

Niles West High School sits on over an acre of land. The school opened in the fall of 1958.
In 1996, the Niles Township Federation of Teachers went on a strike for two weeks over negotiations with administrators. During that time numerous students staged a walkout and pledged their allegiance to Niles West. Strikes have also happened in 1979 and 1985 with similar results.

## Academics

In 2007, Niles West had an average composite ACT score of 22.3, and graduated 93.2% of its senior class. The average class size was 19.2. In 2012, Newsweek ranked Niles West on its list of the Top 1000 Public Schools in the nation.
As of 2011, many 8th or 7th graders have been attending Niles West High School as part as an off-level program.

## Student life
### Activities

The "West Word" student newspaper has been awarded first place for seven years running, with special merit twice, by the American Scholastic Press Association Newspaper contest. Starting in the 2010–2011 school year, the print newspaper was retired, renamed "Niles West News", and moved online.

### Fine arts

In April 2007, both Niles West and Niles North received the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network and National School Boards Association Award for excellence in arts education.
In summer 2010, the Niles West High School Theatre Department performed at the 2010 American High School Theatre Festival in Scotland.
The Illinois Art Education Association awarded the Fine Arts Departments with three awards in 2020: Art Education Program of the Year, Patti-Anne Ford as the Art and Design Administrator of the Year, and Deanna Sortino as the Secondary Art Educator of the Year.

### Athletics

Niles West competes in the Central Suburban League and Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Teams are stylized as the Wolves.
Until the end of the 1999–2000 school year, the sports teams were known as Niles West Indians, a name which was changed to the Wolves so as not to offend Native Americans.
Niles West sponsors interscholastic athletic teams for boys and girls in basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, water polo, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Boys may also compete in baseball and football. Girls can also compete on the wrestling team and may compete in softball. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors a poms team for girls.
The baseball team has won two IHSA state championships (1971–72 and 1974–75). The girls basketball team won the IHSA state championship in 1978-79.
Niles West also won the IHSA state championship for boys gymnastics in 2016.

## Notable alumni

* Steven N. Berk, Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; nominated by Barack Obama
* Arnie Bernstein, nonfiction writer
* Bart Conner, International Gymnastics Hall of Fame inductee and Congressional Gold Medal recipient
* Jeffrey Erickson, bank robber
* Merrick Garland, 86th Attorney General of the United States (2021– )
* Kahmora Hall, drag queen and RuPaul's Drag Race contestant
* Jim Hart (American football), NFL quarterback (1966–1984), most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals, selected to four Pro Bowls
* Paul Igasaki, former Chief Judge of U.S. Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board
* Jerry Kang, UCLA law professor and university administrator, current presidential nominee for the National Council on the Humanities, advisory board for the National Endowment for the Humanities,
* George Kontos, former San Francisco Giants pitcher and sports commentator for NBC Bay Area
* George Kotsiopoulos, television host, author, and former magazine editor
* John S. Koudounis, CEO of Calamos Investments
* Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com
* Jewell Loyd, a professional basketball player currently playing for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA (league champion, 2018, 2020), Gold Medal, Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Her number 32 retired by Niles West High School.
* Rashard Mendenhall, former football player, Huffington Post contributor, and writer for HBO's Ballers
* George Papadopoulos, policy adviser
* Atour Sargon, Assyrian American activist and politician
* Maya Schenwar, editor-in-chief of Truthout and a writer focused on prison-related topics
* Rick Singer, mastermind of 2019 college admissions bribery scandal
* Todd Sucherman, Styx drummer
* Larsa Pippen, American reality television personality, socialite, and businesswoman.
* Jeanette Sliwinski, convicted murderer
* Azhar Usman, Standup comedian, screenwriter, Marvel actor, television & film producer.