LPSPedia

Terms, phrases and acronyms used at LPS

LNW – Lincoln Northwest High School

LOCATION: Near NW 48th and W Holdrege street

OPERATION: 2022 – Present

Lincoln Northwest High School, located at Northwest 48th and West Holdrege streets, opened its doors to welcome the school’s first ninth-grade class on Aug. 15, 2023. It was the seventh LPS high school. In addition to traditional classes, it housed the new Medical Science Focus Program in partnership with the Bryan College of Health Sciences.

LPS named Cedric Cooper the first Principal of the building.

Northwest High School are the Falcons with purple, white, and gray as the colors. These identifiers were selected by students. While the falcon was the focus, Northwest staff also wanted to tie in the aviator connection for the Air Park community. “That is where the aviator goggles on the Falcon comes into play,” Cooper said. “The Fighting Falcon aircraft is part of the U.S. Air Force, and Air Park was once an Air Force base. We feel this really represents our community in northwest Lincoln.”

At the time of opening, Northwest is a member of the Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) for athletics. Through the community high school planning process and the bond referendum, LPS planned Northwest to open under 1,000 students, with room for growth and expansion to 2,000 as student enrollment in Lincoln grows. This classifies the new high schools as Class B under the Nebraska School Activities Association bylaws. The NSAA classifies schools based on enrollment in grades 9-11, and are re-evaluated every two years. Northwest High School athletics did not compete at a Varsity level upon opening. They played junior varsity, reserve and freshman levels games for both girls and boys during the 2022-2023 season.

Due to supply-chain setbacks, non-instructional spaces at Northwest like theaters and gymnasiums were not quite ready for students when the building opened in Fall of 2023. Activities like play productions and marching band faced unique challenges. Despite the setbacks, the Falcons found new ways to practice and build connections through the hardships.