Northwest Classen High School is a public high school serving students in grades 9–12 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Contents
History
Northwest Classen High School was built in 1955 to accommodate the growing population in the northwest corridor of Oklahoma City. Along with Classen School of Advanced Studies, it was named for Anton H. Classen, an early Oklahoma City real estate developer and philanthropist.
As the neighborhoods around Northwest Classen have changed, so has the cultural makeup of the campus. Initially an almost all-Caucasian school, the population has gradually become more multi-cultural. Today, the enrollment in the school is predominantly Hispanic with about 1/2 as many African-American and 1/4 Caucasian students with almost 100 different races and cultures represented.
Hudson Performance Hall
The original auditorium was, along with the rest of the school, targeted for upgrades and renovation as part of Oklahoma City's "MAPS for Kids" program in 2010. After meeting in the auditorium, local businessman and alumni J. Clifford Hudson and his wife Leslie donated $500,000 in additional funds to install updated sound and lighting technology, improve the acoustics and update the audience area for the site. Now named the "Hudson Performance Hall", the venue has held concerts by notable acts such as Vince Gill (also an alumnus), Al Yankovic, Arlo Guthrie, and Sinbad.
Extracurricular activities
Northwest fields teams in Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association–sanctioned competition in baseball, fast-pitch softball, football, cheerleading, cross country, volleyball, basketball, tennis, wrestling, golf, soccer, and track.
Northwest is host to an active JROTC (Army) program. Clubs include a chess club, multicultural club, history club, native-American student services club, Anime club, and a dance team.
Notable alumni
William A. Martin (Class of 1956) – Computer Scientist, Artificial Intelligence Pioneer
Edward Ruscha (Class of 1956) – Artist
Mason Williams (Class of 1956) – Recording Artist
Susanna Talley Clark (Class of 1957) – Songwriter, artist and wife of Guy Clark
Henson Cargill (Class of 1959) – Recording Artist
Gary Nixon (Class of 1959) – Professional motorcycle racer, AMA Grand National Champion (1967 and 1968), member of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Ron Norick (Class of 1959) – Former mayor of Oklahoma City
Jerry C. Elliott High Eagle (Class of 1961) – Physicist and engineer. Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom
Ronald Fagin (Class of 1963) – Computer Scientist, Author of Fagin's theorem
Steven T. Kuykendall (Class of 1965) – Member, US House of Representatives, California's 36th congressional district from 1991 to 2001.
Elizabeth (Herring) Warren (Class of 1966) – United States Senator from Massachusetts, Democratic Party presidential candidate. Special Advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner while establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Professor, Harvard Law School.
Kirk Humphreys (Class of 1968) – Former Mayor of Oklahoma City
Skip Bayless (Class of 1970) – Sports Broadcaster
Order of the Round Table Hall of Fame
In 2018, the Friends of NWC High School Foundation instituted a Hall of Fame with annual inductions.
James R Daniel (class of 1958, inducted 2018) – Vice Chairman, BancFirst Corporation
Dayna Davis Savage (Class of 1957, inducted 2018) – Leader, The Gathering Place, a memory care ministry in Houston, Texas
Cliff Hudson (Class of 1973, inducted 2018) – Chairman, Sonic Corporation; Chairman, Oklahoma City School Board (2001–2008)
Ron Norick (Class of 1959, inducted 2018) – Mayor, Oklahoma City (1987–1998)
Vince Gill (Class of 1975, inducted 2018) – Recording artist
2019 Inductees were:
Skip Bayless (Class of 1970) – Sports columnist and television personality
John D. (Denny) Carreker (Class of 1960) – Entrepreneur, Chairman and CEO of Carreker Corporation
Jerry C. Elliott (Class of 1961) – Physicist and engineer. Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in the recovery of the Apollo 13 astronauts.
Lynne Hardin (Class of 1964) – Author of The Magic of Why and former Chair of the Oklahoma City Public School Board.
Mason Williams (Class of 1956) – Musician, composer, comedian, comedy writer. Winner of both Grammy and Emmy awards.