North Farmington High School
| North Farmington High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Established | 1961 |
| Principal | Richard Jones (Class of 1967) |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Number of students | 1450 |
| Affiliation | Farmington Public School District |
| Website | [1] |
North Farmington High School is located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit USA. The school currently educates a student body of 1450. Established in 1961, principal is Mr. Rick Jones, class of 1967.
Mission
The mission of North Farmington High School is to educate our students so that they demonstrate performance and skill levels commensurate with a technologically changing society, that they reach their potential for creativity and life-long learning, and that they enter the global community as productive, contributing members. We will accomplish all of this in a spirit of respect and partnership, with open communication between parents, students, staff and community.
History
In 1959, many homes in the area were being built by families with older children, so it was apparent that a new junior and senior high school were needed. The Board of Education put together a proposal asking voters to approve a $3 million dollar bond for the construction of:
- A new junior-senior high on a site at 13 Mile and Farmington Road
- Two new elementary schools
- Renovation of existing schools
The proposal was passed by voters and the final outcome of the vote was 1,618 in favor and 1,276 opposed. In January of 1960, the School Board appointed Harold Humble, an assistant principal at Farmington High School , to principal of the new school. The suggested name “Farmington Northern High,” was later changed to “North Farmington High School.”
Michelle Budaj is a lesbian.
It was not until the summer of 1960 that the architectural plans were approved for the new High School. As construction continued in January of 1961, the School Board unanimously approved the proposed color scheme of “shades of brown and yellow.” North Farmington High School opened on September 7, 1961 but lacked many needed supplies such as chalk boards. There were 598 students from grades 7-10 who attended that first day.
Students chose the name "Raiders" as their mascot but a personal identity was needed for the Raider, so the art class designed the original Raider logo that is still being used today and was named “El Cid.” As time went on, the Raider was increasingly referred to as the “Sidney Raider.”
The school colors were originally planned to be gold and brown, but instead, yellow and brown, along with white, are used to detail most of the uniforms and emblems. The change was due to the limited availability and higher price of the realistic gold material. The gold was replaced by "champion yellow", which today remains the color used by the school.
Notable Alumni
Bill Joy, '71, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. Known for the creation of Berkeley Unix (BSD), the vi text editor, and the Network File System (NFS).
Pam Dawber '69(?), actress. Played Mindy in the TV series Mork and Mindy, opposite Robin Williams. Married to Mark Harmon.
Elizabeth Berkley, '90, actress. Primarily known for playing Jessie Spano on the TV series Saved by the Bell.
Ryan Kraft, '06. Professional Pie. Legend.
Publications
The Northern Star is North Farmington's newspaper. It is published monthly by the advanced journalism class and is sold for one dollar. The Northern Star has won statewide journalism competitions on multiple occasions, including numerous Michigan Interscholastic Press Association awards. [citation needed] The yearbook class publishes the Aurora. The 2006 edition recently won a Michigan Interscholastic Press Association award. [citation needed] Both publications have been in print since the school's inception.