Lincoln High School is a public secondary school located in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. A part of the Lincoln Public Schools school district, it is the largest high school in the city. More than 40,000 students have graduated from Lincoln High in its 148-year history. The school colors are red and black, and the mascot is the Links. Its mascot is memorialized in a statue in the school's front lawn, with four individual links chained together. These represent the hopeful characteristics of Lincoln High School: tradition, diversity, excellence, and unity.
History
Lincoln High School was founded in 1871 and is the oldest of the six public high schools in the city of Lincoln. The present building was opened in 1915, with significant additions completed in 1927, 1957, 1985 and 1996. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and has the AA accreditation rating of the Nebraska State Board of Education. In 1984 it was named a Recognized School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. Lincoln High School began its formal participation in the International Baccalaureate Program in 2008 after a formal application process. It is one of only three high schools in Nebraska involved in the program. The others are Millard North High School and Omaha Central High School, both located in Omaha. In 2018, Lincoln High School was honored as a "School of Opportunity" by the National Education Policy Center, at the University of Colorado Boulder, for its commitment to multicultural educational support and academic rigor. It was one of only eight public schools awarded with this honor with "Gold" designation, which is the highest designation for this honor. According to Principal Mark Larson, "This recognition also speaks to the unique culture that has been in place at Lincoln High for many years and hopefully will continue for years to come."
The student body is 46% White, 11% African-American, 10% Asian-American, 21% Hispanic/Latino, and 2% Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native. 9% of students are of two or more races. LHS has approximately 330 students in ELL classes. Over 60% of its student body is in the Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program, and 17% are identified as either gifted or highly gifted. Over 30 different languages are spoken as first languages to students. The largest group speak Spanish, and the next four largest groups speak Arabic, Kurdish, Vietnamese, and Karen. Other languages spoken are Russian, Ukrainian, Nuer, Bosnian, Pashtu, Dinka, Cambodian, Filipino, Chinese, and Burmese. Lincoln High School offers hundreds of courses in twelve different departments to its over 2,000 students, operating on an eight-period day schedule. It has 150 certified staff members and 90 support staff members.
Athletics
Baseball
Lincoln High School's baseball program is headed by Coach Jon Beiermann, JV Tanner Soderberg, Reserve Cieran Riley, and 9th Joe Cortese. The baseball program won state championships in 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1963, and last had measurable success under coach Sam Sharpe from 1991-1992.
Wrestling
Lincoln High School's wrestling program is headed by Coach Andy Genrich. Lincoln High last won a state championship in 1992 and has had 29 individual state champions. In 2009, the program had success in qualifying three wrestlers for state, all by winning first place at the district meet.
