Newport High School (Bellevue, Washington)


Newport High School is a public high school in Bellevue, Washington. It serves students in grades 9–12 in the southern part of the Bellevue School District, including the neighborhoods of Eastgate, Factoria, Newport Hills, Newport Shores, Somerset, The Summit, and Sunset. As of the 2017–18 school year, the principal is Dion Yahoudy. The mascot is the Knight, and the school colors are scarlet and gold.

History

Newport High School was built in 1963 and opened in the fall of 1964 to accommodate Bellevue's growing population. Prior to construction, students in the Eastgate, Somerset and Newport Hills neighborhoods went to Sammamish High School and Bellevue High School. The first graduating class was of 1966.
From 2005 to 2008, the school went through a major construction project. A new three story building replaced the original classrooms, library, and offices. The original buildings remained in use during construction of the new building. The project included extensive remodeling of the gyms and locker rooms. In early 2007, students and teachers moved into the new building. The old buildings were demolished to replace a baseball field and a softball field displaced by the new building. The project cost $54 million.

Demographics

In the 2017–18 school year, the total student enrollment was 1,772. The demographics are: 1% Black/African American, 6% Hispanic, 8% Multi-Ethnic, 48% Asian and 36% White. 35% of students speak a first language other than English. 6% of students receive ELL service, and 13% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch.

Achievements

Newport High School has been ranked in the Top 100 List of Best High Schools by Newsweek Magazine as measured by the number of AP tests taken divided by the number of seniors in the school, ranking 37th as of 2006, 31st as of 2008, 34th in 2009. It was ranked 118 in 2014. Newport was also selected as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Education. In 2005 Newport High School's World History program was recognized as exemplary in the College Board's Report To The Nation based on its top-ranking pass rate on the national AP World History exam. Another achievement includes the DECA program, which is a competition offered through Newport's Marketing Classes.

Technology

During the 2004–2005 school year, the Bellevue School District made a push to buy Smart Boards for all classrooms, accompanied by Dell projectors which are mounted into the ceiling.
In the 2016-17 school year they decided to hand out Lenovo Yoga laptops known as the One-to-One Technology program. This includes teaching with OneNote.
Some of the technology related courses include the NHS Cisco academy, including CCNP classes, and Advanced Placement Computer Science.
One technical class is the advanced video production program. The production studio has a professional level green room, studio cameras, Apple computers for editing, and a fully equipped audio room.

Students

Newport High School hosts a variety of clubs, including language/culture clubs in Spanish and Chinese, as well as a branch of the National Honor Society, Gay-Straight Alliance, Debate, Junior Statesmen of America, DECA, Key Club, a community-service organization called ACE, a robotics club known as NRG, a math club, a snowboarding club called Snow Riders, a sports debating club called Sports Debate Club, a Jewish club, break dancing club, a speech and debate club and Forensics team, and a Spirit Squads like Cheer, Drill, and Color Guard.
Multiple classes are designed to teach students to perform at their personal best, including ASPEN, AVID, leadership and link-crew.
Link-crew is a semester-long class for Juniors and Seniors, where everyone is assigned a group of freshmen, and these students help the freshmen adjust to high school life.
Leadership is either semester- or year-long, and in this class students learn various leadership techniques which they put to use in projects such as Adopt-a-Family, which raises money for local needy families during the holiday season.
ASPEN, which stands for AIDS, Student Peer Educators at Newport, is Newport's advanced health class, in which students learn extensively about HIV/AIDS, and then teach other students about STDs, HIV/AIDS, and safe sex practices. In 2009, they raised over $44,000 for Lifelong AIDS Alliance, making them the second biggest contributors only behind Microsoft, and in 2010 they raised over $51,000 easily the largest amount of any team in the walk.
AVID is designed for students who are taking courses the students feel are challenging. This class teaches study skills, and students practice college entrance examinations and essays.

Music

The Newport Jazz Ensemble has competed in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival and Competition in New York. The Jazz Ensemble participates in many festivals including Clark College Jazz Festival, Bellevue College Jazz Festival, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and the Swing Central Jazz Festival in Savannah, Georgia, placing second in 2011. Other activities include the KPLU School of Jazz Recording Project and performing at the Paramount Theatre.
The Marching Band performs at home football games, assemblies and parades all across Washington State.
The Newport Orchestra program features a select chamber orchestra for top orchestral instrumentalists. The program won second place at the 2015 ASTA National Music Festival in Salt Lake City and first place at the 2016 National Orchestra Cup in New York City.

Math Club

Newport's math team placed third and second in the state at the 2009 and 2012 Washington State Mu Alpha Theta contest. Newport Math Club hosts the Knights of Pi Math Tournament for students in grades 5–8.

Forensics

Newport High has had a Debate team since January 10, 1966. The team is affiliated with the National Speech and Debate Association, the national honor society for competitive speech and debate. In 1976, Newport won the Whitman College Invitational, and in 1988, two of the team's policy debate teams broke into the quarterfinal rounds of the California High School Forensics Tournament hosted by the University of California at Berkeley. Newport Debate has qualified to attend the National Championships 18 times since its founding.
In 2009, the club expanded its event offerings to include Individual Event speeches, Public Forum, Oxford- and Congressional-style Debate. By the Spring of 2010, Newport was officially recognized by the NFL as a charter chapter after finishing the season ranked 7th nationally among affiliate NFL chapters. Charter status give the club voting membership in the national organization, and allowed the team increased entrants to the National Qualifiers.

Weekend programs

The Northwest Chinese School, which teaches Chinese, mathematics, and other classes to students aged 4–18, is held at Newport High. It is the largest weekend Chinese school in the United States.

Notable alumni