Lawrence North High School
Lawrence North High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The school was founded in 1976 and graduated its first class in 1978. Lawrence North is one of two high schools in the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township, the other one being Lawrence Central High School. AcademicsEnrollmentAs of the 2019–20 school year, Lawrence North has an enrollment of 2,619 students.[3] The student population is mostly African-American, followed equally by White and Latino. Thirteen percent of the students are involved in special education, ten percent qualify for English language learner support, and fifty-four percent qualify for free or reduced price lunch.[3] The teachers, however, are seventy-seven percent white, and most of them have more than twenty years of teaching experience.[1] Awards and recognitionLawrence North is recognized by the Indiana Department of Education as a Four-Star School, the highest honor that body can confer. It is also fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.[4] ProgramsLawrence North offers 23 Advanced Placement courses, 38 dual credit courses, and houses an International Baccalaureate program, which was started in July 2003. It is also distinctive for being the only school in the district that is designated as a K-12 Spanish Language Immersion Program, a program recently recognized as an International Spanish Academy by Spanish Ministry of Education. Vocational courses are offered in neighboring McKenzie Center for Innovation and Technology. In addition, other World Languages program like French, German, and American Sign Language are also offered.[4] Extracurricular activitiesAthleticsCurrently, it offer ten sports programs for both boys and girls, as well as several club and intramural teams. The Wildcats is a member of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference, a member conference of Indiana High School Athletic Association. They have won 14 state-level championships to date. Lawrence North is a household name in Indiana high school boys basketball. They have won one national, four state, six regional, 17 sectional, and 16 conference titles under guidance of Jack Keefer, one of Indiana's most legendary basketball coach who had managed the program from its establishment in 1976,[5] until his retirement in 2022.[6] Shooting guard Brad Leaf led all Marion County, Indiana, scorers as a senior at Lawrence North in 1978 with a 25.5-point average, with a single-game high of 38 points.[7][8] The first state title came in 1989, when the team was led by Eric Montross. The next three titles came in a row from 2004 to 2006, guided by future NBA players Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. The program has also produced 13 Indiana All-Stars. Keefer is the first coach from Indiana to be named National High School Coach of the Year by USA Today, Sports Illustrated and the National High School Coaches Association in 2006, and inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.[9] He is one of eight high school coaches in Indiana history to have 700 or more victories, and in 2016 the gymnasium was renamed in his honor.[10] Marching bandLawrence North's band program was merged with its Lawrence Central counterpart to form Marching Pride of Lawrence Township in 2014. It currently has more than 250 members, divided into various program such as marching band, color guard, winter guard, concert band, jazz band, and pep band. They are selected to participate in 2017 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.[11][12] Student publicationThe main publication of the school is North Star, a student-run newspaper that is published ten times a year. There is also yearbook program LYNX, video news program Cat's Eye, and literary magazine. Other activitiesOther Lawrence North clubs and organizations including Model United Nations, National Honor Society, Academic Team, Drama Club, Speech and Debate, Inside/Out, Spanish Honor Society, Show Choir, Chess Club, Bilingual Newsletter, Performance Dance Team, International Club, Lynx (Yearbook), Ski and Snowboarding and Principal's Advisory Councile. Notable alumni
References
See also |