New Trier High School

New Trier spends more than $15,000 yearly per student, well above the state average of $8,786.[20] It has been included in the "Top Hundred" and "Most Successful" lists of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Parade magazine. The school was identified as "quite possibly the best public school in America" by Town & Country, in a six-page article on New Trier that cited the "rich" and "demanding" curriculum, extensive arts and activities, strong participation in athletics, and faculty of the caliber typically found teaching at good colleges.[21] Life also recognized New Trier as one of the best high schools in America with cover stories in 1950 and 1998.[22]

In the class of 2017, 23 students were National Merit finalists, 27 were National Merit semifinalists, 71 received letters of commendation and 442 were Illinois State Scholars. For this same class, the average composite ACT score was 27.8, the highest in Illinois for an open enrollment public school and among the top school scores in the United States. The class of 2018 scored an average 28.0 composite on the ACT, the highest ever for New Trier, and the highest in Illinois for open enrollment schools. According to an article by the University of Michigan Department of Psychology, "New Trier students outperform their Illinois classmates on every conceivable measure."[20] The article also points out that 92% of the school's funding comes from the high property taxes of its affluent surroundings. Approximately 98% of the class of 2014 went on to enroll in college.

New Trier ensembles or individuals have received 39 awards in the Downbeat Student Music Awards program. A record-setting seven of these were achieved in 2007 alone.[23] More than 1,100 students participate in the music department. The student-run Soundtraks Club produces all 24 concerts a year, webcast live on the internet at ntjazz.com,[24] on local cable television, and in stereo on WNTH radio.

New Trier was named a Grammy Signature School Gold recipient by the Grammy Foundation[25] in 2000 for its commitment to music education, and was named the National Signature School in 2007 as the nation's top high school music program.[26] In April 2006, the school's Concert Choir and Symphony Orchestra performed in New York City at Carnegie Hall. In the summer of 2000, the school's Jazz Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra and Bluegrass Band enjoyed a successful two-week concert tour of China.

New Trier has practiced subject-level grouping for over fifty years.[27] In this system, up to four different levels of difficulty are offered for each academic subject. Level 2E is considered a general level. Levels 2, 3 and 4 are college preparatory, honors, and high honors levels, respectively. Level 5 was reserved for Advanced Placement classes and other college-level classes, such as multivariable calculus and linear algebra, but the level was phased out beginning with the class of 2011. (All 5-level courses are currently counted as 4-level.) Students may work at different levels in different subjects. Other levels include 8 and 9. Level 8 classes are counted for elective credit and level 9 classes, a combination of level 2, 3, and 4 students (i.e. 2+3+4=9) are graded as level 3 classes.

New Trier offers both unweighted and weighted grade point averages (GPA), and plus and minus grades are reported on transcripts. In calculating a weighted GPA, grades in a student's coursework are given different values depending on the level in which the grade is earned. For example, an "A" in a 2-level course is weighted at 4.00, while in levels 3 and 4 the values are 4.67 and 5.33, respectively (an "A" in a 5-level AP class is worth 5.67). In 2009, New Trier announced that for the 2010–2011 school year the level 5 will be eliminated. A.P. classes will be weighted to level 4.[27]

Since the late 1990s, the Board of Education has been examining how to encourage students to pursue a strong academic career without their focusing too much on their class rank. The first step taken by the administration was to eliminate the process of reporting class rank and to switch to decile ranking. Around the same time, the scale for weighted GPA calculations was modified and plus and minus grades were implemented. In 2008, New Trier eliminated the reporting of ranks in a class entirely.

Official logo of the New Trier Trevians

[28]

New Trier's mascot is the Trevian, named after soldiers from the city of Trier, Germany during the Roman Empire. The Trevian mascot was chosen in recognition of the fact that the Grosse Pointe area of Wilmette was largely settled by immigrants from Trier, Germany. From 1901 to 1948, the school's sports teams were known as the "Terriers" and "Green Wave." During the 1948–49 school year they were renamed "Indians", reflecting the school's location in the Indian Hill section of Winnetka. When the new campus in the western part of the district opened in 1965, the new school's sports team was known as the "Cowboys". The year before the two schools merged in 1981, a number of student forums were held on both the East and West campuses, giving students the opportunity to provide feedback on potential school colors and nicknames. After a series of student votes, the school adopted "Trevians" as a team name and green, blue, and gray as the school colors (East having previously been green and gray, while West was blue, gray, and white). During the 2004–2005 school year the mascot was named "Trevius Maximus" after conducting a student poll.

New Trier's biggest conference rival is Evanston Township High School. Their football rivalry is one of the oldest uninterrupted sports rivalries in the history of high school sports, dating back over 100 years. Both schools compete in the Central Suburban League conference. The two annual basketball games New Trier plays against Evanston draw so many people that from 2001 to 2013 they were held at Northwestern University's larger Welsh-Ryan Arena; more recent competitions at Evanston's and New Trier's facilities frequently fill to capacity. New Trier's biggest non-conference rival is Loyola Academy, which is located in Wilmette, just down the road from the Northfield campus.

With more than 120 state championships, New Trier High School currently has more than any other high school in Illinois.[29] New Trier also leads the state in both boys' and girls' state titles.[29] The sports in which New Trier has the most IHSA-sponsored state titles are boys' swimming and diving (24), boys' tennis (19), girls' swimming and diving (13), boys' golf (9), girls' tennis (9), and girls' badminton (8).[30][31] New Trier has been strong in the sport of baseball, twice as state champions, winning in 2000 and 2009.[32] New Trier has also historically been strong at non-IHSA sponsored sports, including 18 Great Lakes High School Fencing Conference (formerly Midwest High School Fencing) championships in men's fencing and 10 in women's fencing,[33] fifteen state titles (Blackhawk Cup) in boys' ice hockey,[34] twelve state championships in boys' lacrosse, 1995, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019[35] six state titles in girls' ice hockey, six state titles in girls' golf (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2017) and six runners up in girls' golf,[36] 2 national championships in boys' rowing,[37] 7 national championships in girls' rowing,[37] nine state championships in girls' field hockey, six state championships in girls' lacrosse,[38] and one state championship in girls' cross country.[39] The top varsity ice hockey team for boys, New Trier Green, won the first ever USA Hockey High School National Championship title in 2010,[40] and repeated as champions in 2011.[41]

In May 2005, New Trier was ranked #12 in Sports Illustrated's list of the "Top 25 High School Sports Programs in America," and first in Illinois.[42][43]

The athletic facilities include the Leslie Gates Gymnasium for basketball; two natatoriums for swimming, diving, and water polo; Phelps Field for lacrosse, encircled by the Doug Chase Track; the Robert Naughton Field at New Trier Stadium for football, soccer, and lacrosse; the Duke Childs Fields for baseball and softball; gyms for volleyball; courts for tennis; a wrestling room with four mats, and an indoor field house.

There are over 150 different extracurricular activities at New Trier, including the student-loved "Cereal Club".[44] Although some date back to the founding of the school, and have strong traditions (like Tri-Ship, the all boys service club), others are much newer and consist of only a few members.

New Trier's Lagniappe-Potpourri is an annual student-written, student-choreographed, student-composed, student-directed, student-managed, student-built and student-performed variety show.[45] The show began as two separate productions, Lagniappe and Potpourri, at the east and west campuses respectively. In 1981, the two campuses combined, causing the two shows to merge into Lagniappe-Potpourri.[46]

New Trier's debate program has flourished in recent years, with two students receiving the top speaker award at the Tournament of Champions,[47] which only allows the top 72 teams in the nation to compete through a system of qualification. The school has also placed teams in the top 16 in recent years.[48] New Trier has also had students either go to the final or win in the Illinois High School Association's state debate tournament in all four divisions, winning the 2011 and 2013 championship in Public Forum.[49] In 2017 they won the championship in Lincoln-Douglas debate.[50]

Each of the four official class governments (Sophomore and Junior Steering Committees and the Freshman and Senior Senates) makes significant annual donations to various philanthropic causes throughout the community, state, country, and world. Every year since 2001, the Senior Senate has fully funded the construction of a house in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity of Lake County, Illinois, a non-profit organization that fights homelessness and substandard housing. A recent goal of the campaign was 10 houses in 10 years, and the class of 2010 fulfilled that goal. New Trier is the only school so far to build 10 houses with Habitat. Many fundraisers contribute to this and various other causes over the course of the academic year. The New Trier Tsunami Relief Committee donated more than $18,000 to relief organizations to save people who were affected by the tsunami, and also helped victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004.[51]

The jazz festival began in 1983 and takes place on the first Saturday of February. Each year, the event brings in around fifty high school and junior high jazz ensembles from the Great Lakes region and Canada to perform during the day. The high school groups attend clinics with jazz educators and composers from around the country. Seminars are also held throughout the day on improvisation, transcription, and music business, as well as instrument masterclasses. A jazz combo and college big band perform in the afternoon, while the evening concert features New Trier's top jazz ensemble and a professional big band. Past groups have included the Buddy Rich Big Band (led by Dave Weckl), the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Jazz Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (led by Jon Faddis), the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, the Mingus Big Band, Maynard Ferguson, and Dizzy Gillespie.[52] The festival was renamed in 2005 after Frank Mantooth when the jazz musician, educator, and composer died just days before the 2004 festival.[53]