Neenah High School is a public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

located in

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah ( ) is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River approximately northeast of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, O ...

. It is the only traditional high school of the Neenah Joint School District. As of fall 2008, approximately 2250 students were enrolled in grades 9 through 12, making it one of the largest schools in the state. The school colors are red and white and the mascot is a rocket.

History

Originally named Armstrong High School after

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

, the current high school building was built in the 1970s. A middle school (Conant Jr High School) on the same campus, constructed in the late 1960s, was made a part of Armstrong in the 1980s, prompting a name change to Neenah High School. A third building connecting the two ("The Link"), was built in the middle 1990s. A successful 2020 referendum budgeted $115 million for a new high school to be built in the town of Neenah, although the village of Fox Crossing later annexed the land. The new high school opened for the 2023-2024 school year. The old high school was converted into a new middle school for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, thus replacing Shattuck Middle School; it closed in June 2023 and sold to an investor in August 2023 to be converted to residential apartments.

Academics

Before the 2019–2020 school year, NHS switched from a traditional daily schedule to a block schedule.

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

classes are offered at Neenah, and about 30 percent of students take an AP exam.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Rockets athletic teams have a rivalry with nearby high school Kimberly. The Rockets' boys' basketball team finished second in Division I at the state basketball tournament in 2014. The team made three consecutive returns to the Division I state tournament in the 2020's, winning outright in 2022 against Brookfield Central, and losing in the first round to Arrowhead in 2023 and 2024. The Girls' Basketball team also took second in the Division I state tournament in 2024. The boys' cross country team won the state championship in 1963, and 2018.

Performing arts

Neenah has two competitive

show choir A show choir (previously known as a "swing choir") is a Ensemble (musical theatre), musical ensemble that combines choral singing with choreographed dance, often integrated into a narrative story or overarching theme. Origin Show choirs have been ...

s, an advanced group called Vintage and an intermediate group called Act II. Additionally Neenah High School has one advanced orchestra group known as Touch of Class, a group which often performs around the Fox Valley and abroad

Media

Neenah High was featured on an episode of the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

television series ''

If You Really Knew Me ''If You Really Knew Me'' is an American reality television series which aired on MTV that focuses on youth subculture and different cliques A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ; ), in the social sciences, is a small group of individuals who interact w ...

'' which aired on Tuesday, September 14, 2010.

Notable alumni

* William Draheim, Democratic and Republican state legislator * Luke Elkin, NFL long snapper for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Nate Gustafson Nate "Gus" Gustafson (born February 28, 1995) is an American information technology professional and Republican politician from Winnebago County, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 55th Assembly d ...

, Republican state legislator *

Zuhdi Jasser Mohamed Zuhdi Jasser (; born November 17, 1967) is an American religious and political commentator and physician specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology in Phoenix, Arizona. Jasser is a former Lieutenant Commander in the United ...

, medical doctor, activist, policy board member *

Phil Johnston (filmmaker) Philip Johnston (born October 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker and voice actor, best known as one of the writers for the Walt Disney Animation Studios films ''Wreck-It Ralph'' (2012), ''Zootopia'' (2016) and ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' (2018) ...

, screenwriter of

Wreck-It Ralph ''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Rich Moore and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay by Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee ( ...

and

Zootopia ''Zootopia'' (titled ''Zootropolis'' or ''Zoomania'' in various regions) is a 2016 American animated buddy cop comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore from a screenplay by Jared Bush an ...

Dick Jorgensen Richard M. Jorgensen (April 12, 1934 – October 10, 1990) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 22 years, through the 1989 season, the last 19 years as a referee. Jorgensen's officiating career was highlig ...

, NFL referee,

Super Bowl XXIV Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...

Kris Kelderman Kris Kelderman (born December 10, 1968, in Neenah, Wisconsin) was a U.S. soccer defender who is currently the head coach for the Milwaukee Panthers men's soccer team. Kelderman was a member of the U.S. team at the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Champions ...

college and professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

defender and head coach for the

Milwaukee Panthers The Milwaukee Panthers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level, competing in the Horizon League for all sports ...

men's soccer team *

Max Klesmit Max Klesmit (born June 9, 2002) is an American college basketball player for the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big Ten Conference. Early life and high school career Klesmit was born and raised in Neenah, Wisconsin and played at Neenah High School. Kl ...

, college basketball player * Peter Konz,

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Wayne Kreklow Wayne R. Kreklow (born January 4, 1957) is an American volleyball coach and former professional basketball player. Kreklow won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 1981. He was the women's volleyball coach at the University of Missouri ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

* David Martin, Republican state legislator * Frederick Petersen, physiotherapist and Republican state legislator * John Schneller,

End End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

* Donna J. Seidel, police officer and Democratic state legislator * John Harrison Wharton, architect of Intel's

Intel MCS-51 The Intel MCS-51 (commonly termed 8051) is a single-chip microcontroller (MCU) series developed by Intel in 1980 for use in embedded systems. The architect of the Intel MCS-51 instruction set was John H. Wharton.. Intel's original versions w ...

instruction set * John Whitlinger, professional tennis player and collegiate tennis coach * Erick Metzig, parricide

References

External links

*
Neenah Joint School District websiteFox Valley Association website
– Neenah Rockets {{authority control Public high schools in Wisconsin Schools in Winnebago County, Wisconsin 1960s establishments in Wisconsin Educational institutions in the United States with year of establishment missing