Newton South High School

Newton South High School is one of two public high schools in the city of Newton, Massachusetts, United States, the other being Newton North.

Newton South High School
Address
140 Brandeis Road Newton , Massachusetts 02459 United States
Coordinates	42°18′51.73″N 71°11′11.36″W
Information
Motto	Bona mens omnibus patet (A good mind is open to all things)
Established	1960; 64 years ago (1960)
School district	Newton Public Schools
CEEB code	221548
Principal	Tamara Stras
Teaching staff	156.00 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,837 (2022-23)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	11.78[1]
Campus size	33.477 acres (13.548 ha)
Color(s)	Blue   Orange
Mascot	Lion
Newspaper	The Lion's Roar, Denebola
Yearbook	Regulus
Website	nshs.newton.k12.ma.us
Last updated: May 11, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-05-11)

History and student life

By the late 1950s, Newton's sole public high school, Newton High, grew to 3,000 students. Newton built a new school, Newton South, in the Oak Hill neighborhood in 1960.^[2] The school is organized into four student houses—Cutler, Goldrick, Goodwin, and Wheeler—each with a student commons.^[2]

Newton South was the first public high school to create a gay–straight alliance in the United States in the early 1990s.^[3]

Newton South features two award-winning student newspapers, Denebola and The Lion's Roar.^[4]

U.S. News & World Report ranked Newton South as the 664th-best high school in the country and 20th-best in the Massachusetts in its 2020 rankings.^[5]

The school is part of the Newton Public School District.

Public attention

The school gained notoriety in 2002 for its "Senior Scavenger Hunt",^[6] a student-organized contest that featured theft, vandalism, illegal drug use, and various sexual acts committed by the graduating seniors in exchange for points.^[7]

On February 8, 2007, the Newton South STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition chapter organized a Darfur Benefit Concert with the well known band, State Radio, raising over $23,000 for Save the Children and the Genocide Intervention Network.^[8]

Sports

Newton South competes in the DCL (Dual County League).^[9]

• Fall sports
  • Football (B)
  • Soccer (B+G)
  • Cross Country (B+G)
  • Volleyball (G)
  • Golf (Co-Ed)
  • Field Hockey (Co-Ed)
  • Cheerleading (Co-Ed)
• Winter sports
  • Basketball (B+G)
  • Gymnastics (B+G)
  • Nordic Skiing (B+G)
  • Alpine Skiing (B+G)
  • Indoor Track and Field (B+G)
  • Wrestling (Co-Ed)
  • Hockey (B+G)
  • Swimming and Diving (B+G)
  • Cheerleading (Co-Ed)
• Spring sports
  • Lacrosse (B+G)
  • Baseball (B)
  • Softball (G)
  • Volleyball (B)
  • Track and Field (B+G)
  • Tennis (B+G)
  • Rugby (B+G)

Awards and recognition

Newton South was named Massachusetts's top athletic program by Sports Illustrated in 2009.^[10]

Notable alumni

• Josh Altman, class of 1997, real estate agent on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles Mr. Altman says that the Altman Brothers — the siblings’ real estate group at Douglas Elliman — sells more than $1 billion in real estate each year. ^[11]“The show didn’t make us,” he said. “We made the show.”^[12]
• Nili Brosh, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter^[13]
• Veronica Burton, class of 2018, professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association
• Marisa Catalina Casey, class of 1997, co-author of Born in Our Hearts: Stories of Adoption, is the founder and executive director of the arts education nonprofit Starting Artists, Inc. located in Brooklyn
• Geoffrey Gray, class of 2015, American-Israeli professional basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Marin Hinkle, class of 1984, actor for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and CBS's Two and a Half Men
• Darvell Huffman, class of 1986, former NFL player for the Indianapolis Colts
• Alex Karpovsky, class of 1993, actor for HBO's comedy-drama Girls and Amazon's Homecoming^[14]
• Caroline Kaufer, class of 1980, software executive and philanthropist
• John Krasinski, class of 1997, filmmaker and actor for NBC's comedy The Office, A Quiet Place, and A Quiet Place Part II^[15]
• Ben Kurland, class of 2002, an actor in The Artist, which won five Academy Awards
• Bill Lichtenstein, class of 1974, Peabody Award-winning journalist, filmmaker, radio producer
• Robert C. Lieberman, class of 1982, American political scientist and former provost of the Johns Hopkins University
• Jonathan Mann, class of 1965, World Health Organization chief against AIDS
• Chris Morocco, class of 1998, American chef and YouTube personality^[16]
• Roger Myerson, class of 1969, was one of the three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2007 "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory"^[17]
• Hari Nef, class of 2011, transgender actress, model, and writer. Debuted at New York Fashion Week Spring 2015^[18]
• B. J. Novak, class of 1997, co-executive producer, writer, and actor for NBC's comedy The Office^[15]
• Joe Rogan, class of 1985, TV host of Fear Factor, The Man Show, Joe Rogan Questions Everything, The Joe Rogan Experience podcast^[15]
• Eli Roth, class of 1990, film director, producer, writer, and actor. Co-starred with Novak in Inglourious Basterds^[15]
• Jason Solowsky, class of 1995, film composer, guitarist and pianist. Composed music for over 100 films^[19]
• Bronze Age Pervert, class of 1998, author of Bronze Age Mindset.^[20]

References

1. "Newton South High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
2. From the description of Newton South High School History, 1960–2003. (Minuteman Library Network). WorldCat record id: 319889351. Published by SNAC Cooperative
3. Jennings, Kevin: Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son: A Memoir, page 196. Beacon Press, 2006.
4. Viser, Matt (February 20, 2005). "Double scoops: At Newton South, two papers vie to make headlines". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
5. "Newton South High". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
6. Time Waster. "Lewd, Crude High School Scavenger Hunt". The Smoking Gun. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
7. "Lewd, Crude High School Scavenger Hunt". The Smoking Gun. December 11, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
8. Christopher Loh and Maggie Mastricola (February 13, 2007). "Darfur Benefit Concert Multimedia Sound Slide Show". Newton Tab. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
9. "MIAA League Directory" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 6, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
10. "Top athletics program in each state and the District of Columbia". Sports Illustrated. July 6, 2009. Archived from the original on July 10, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
11. "How Real Estate Became Showbiz and Agents Became Stars". April 28, 2024.
12. Springer, Shira (October 2, 2015). "Newton native becomes seller to the stars". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015.
13. "Regulus". Internet Archive. 2004. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
14. "Newton Native Alex Karpovsky On Indie Film, Neurosis, Playing 'Ray' on HBO's 'Girls'". WBUR. April 9, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
15. Vu, Augustine. "Famous Newton South Alumni". Denebola. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
16. "Newton South High School Class of 1998". newtonsouthhighschool.org. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
17. "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2007". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
18. Epstein, Maddy (October 16, 2016). "Hari Nef: A Rising Transgender Model Superstar From Newton South – NSHS Denebola". Denebola. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
19. "Old Friends". Old Friends. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
20. Wood, Graeme (August 3, 2023). "How Bronze Age Pervert Charmed the Far Right". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 21, 2023.

External links

• Official website