Newton South High School

History and student life

By the late 1950s, Newton's sole public high school, Newton High, grew to 3,000 students. Newton built a new school, Newton South, in the Oak Hill neighborhood in 1960. The school is organized into four student houses—Cutler, Goldrick, Goodwin, and Wheeler—each with a student commons.

Newton South was the first public high school to create a gay–straight alliance in the United States in the early 1990s.

Newton South features two award-winning student newspapers, Denebola and The Lion's Roar.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Newton South as the 446th-best high school in the country and 20th-best in the Massachusetts in its 2020 rankings.

The school is part of the Newton Public School District.

Public attention

The school gained notoriety in 2002 for its "Senior Scavenger Hunt", a student-organized contest that featured theft, vandalism, illegal drug use, and various sexual acts committed by the graduating seniors in exchange for points.

On February 8, 2007, the Newton South STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition chapter organized a Darfur Benefit Concert with the well known band, State Radio, raising over $230,000 for Save the Children and the Genocide Intervention Network.

Sports

Newton South competes in the DCL (Dual County League).

• Fall sports
  • Football (B)
  • Soccer (B+G)
  • Cross Country (B+G)
  • Volleyball (G)
  • Golf (Co-Ed)
  • Field Hockey (Co-Ed)
  • Cheerleading (Co-Ed)
• Winter sports
  • Basketball (B+G)
  • Gymnastics (B+G)
  • Nordic Skiing (B+G)
  • Alpine Skiing (B+G)
  • Indoor Track and Field (B+G)
  • Wrestling (Co-Ed)
  • Hockey (B+G)
  • Swimming and Diving (B+G)
  • Cheerleading (Co-Ed)
• Spring sports
  • Lacrosse (B+G)
  • Baseball (B)
  • Softball (G)
  • Volleyball (B)
  • Track and Field (B+G)
  • Tennis (B+G)
  • Ultimate Frisbee (B)

Awards and recognition

Newton South was named America's top athletic program by Sports Illustrated in 2010.

Notable alumni

• Josh Altman, class of 1997, real estate agent on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles
• Nili Brosh, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter
• Veronica Burton, class of 2018, professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association
• Marisa Catalina Casey, class of 1997, co-author of Born in Our Hearts: Stories of Adoption, is the founder and executive director of the arts education nonprofit Starting Artists, Inc. located in Brooklyn
• Geoffrey Gray, class of 2015, American-Israeli professional basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Marin Hinkle, class of 1984, actor for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and CBS's Two and a Half Men
• Darvell Huffman, class of 1986, former NFL player for the Indianapolis Colts
• Alex Karpovsky, class of 1993, actor for HBO's comedy-drama Girls and Amazon's Homecoming
• Caroline Kaufer, class of 1980, software executive and philanthropist
• John Krasinski, class of 1997, filmmaker and actor for NBC's comedy The Office, A Quiet Place, and A Quiet Place Part II
• Ben Kurland, class of 2002, an actor in The Artist, which won five Academy Awards
• Bill Lichtenstein, class of 1974, Peabody Award-winning journalist, filmmaker, radio producer
• Robert C. Lieberman, class of 1982, American political journalist and former provost of the Johns Hopkins University
• Jonathan Mann, class of 1965, World Health Organization chief against AIDS
• Chris Morocco, class of 1998, American chef and YouTube personality
• Roger Myerson, class of 1969, was one of the three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2007 "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory"
• Hari Nef, class of 2011, transgender actress, model, and writer. Debuted at New York Fashion Week Spring 2015
• B. J. Novak, class of 1997, co-executive producer, writer, and actor for NBC's comedy The Office
• Joe Rogan, class of 1985, TV host of Fear Factor, The Man Show, Joe Rogan Questions Everything, The Joe Rogan Experience podcast
• Eli Roth, class of 1990, film director, producer, writer, and actor. Co-starred with Novak in Inglourious Basterds
• Jason Solowsky, class of 1995, film composer, guitarist and pianist. Composed music for over 100 films
• Bronze Age Pervert, class of 1998, author of Bronze Age Mindset
• Plane Jane, class of 2016, drag queen who placed third on RuPaul's Drag Race season 16.

References

References

1. "Newton South High". National Center for Education Statistics.
2. From the description of ''Newton South High School History, 1960–2003''. (Minuteman Library Network). WorldCat record id: 319889351. Published by [https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w64n2t3n SNAC Cooperative]
3. Jennings, Kevin: ''Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son: A Memoir'', page 196. Beacon Press, 2006.
4. (February 20, 2005). "Double scoops: At Newton South, two papers vie to make headlines".
5. "Newton South High".
6. Time Waster. "Lewd, Crude High School Scavenger Hunt". The Smoking Gun.
7. (2013-12-11). "Lewd, Crude High School Scavenger Hunt".
8. Christopher Loh and Maggie Mastricola. (2007-02-13). "Darfur Benefit Concert Multimedia Sound Slide Show". Newton Tab.
9. "MIAA League Directory".
10. (2009-07-06). "Top athletics program in each state and the District of Columbia".
11. Springer, Shira. (October 2, 2015). "Newton native becomes seller to the stars". Boston Globe.
12. (2004). "Regulus". Internet Archive.
13. (April 9, 2014). "Newton Native Alex Karpovsky On Indie Film, Neurosis, Playing 'Ray' on HBO's 'Girls'". WBUR.
14. "Famous Newton South Alumni". Denebola.
15. "Newton South High School Class of 1998".
16. "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2007". Nobelprize.org.
17. (October 16, 2016). "Hari Nef: A Rising Transgender Model Superstar From Newton South – NSHS Denebola".
18. "Old Friends". Old Friends.
19. Wood, Graeme. (2023-08-03). "How Bronze Age Pervert Charmed the Far Right".
20. Nolfi, Joey. (2023-12-06). "RuPaul's Drag Race season 16 cast revealed: Meet the 14 new queens".