Northwest High School (NWHS) is a public high school in Germantown, Maryland. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools public school system. As of 2022, it enrolled 2,484 students. It is one of two high schools in Germantown, the other being Seneca Valley High School, with which Northwest shares an athletic rivalry. The school also serves small sections of the cities of Gaithersburg and Darnestown. The school was established in 1998, and completed an expansion project during the summer of 2006. Northwest's school mascot is the jaguar and its colors are black, silver and white.

Academics

Northwest High School offers a number of honors and Advanced Placement courses, along with American Sign Language (ASL) French and Spanish languages. The school has an average SAT score of 1129, above the national mean. Northwest hosts the Ulysses Signature Program, a four-year research-based program in which students develop projects focused on one of the Ulysses Project themes: Arts and Humanities; Public Policy and Public Service; and/or Math, Science and Technology. Students are recommended for the rigorous research program as freshmen and remain in the program throughout their senior years. As of 2024, Northwest is the 20th-ranked school in Maryland and the 1059th-ranked school nationwide according to U.S News and World Report.

Principals

Areas served

Students attending Northwest come from parts of Germantown, Boyds, Gaithersburg, and Darnestown, as well as very small portions of Poolesville and Potomac. Northwest is fed by three area middle schools and eight area elementary schools in the following feeder patterns: Elementary School Split Articulations:

Recent Changes to Areas Served

In November of 2019, the board of education approved boundaries that affected the following schools within the Northwest cluster:

Expected Future Changes

As of the 2023-24 school year, Northwest projects to be over-enrolled for the next 15 years with its current attendance zones. To address these concerns, along with overutilization among other nearby schools, the county is conducting a boundary study for the new Crown HS, which has an expected completion date of August 2027.

Athletics

All teams have varsity and junior varsity teams with the exception of tennis, golf, swim and dive, indoor track and field, poms, and boys'/coed volleyball. JV lacrosse teams were added to Montgomery County athletics in 2008.

Fall sports

Winter sports

Spring sports

Multi-season

Rivalries

Northwest High School has sports rivalries, particularly in football, with neighboring Seneca Valley High School, and Quince Orchard High School. The annual football game between Northwest and Seneca Valley is known as "The Battle for the King's Trophy" or the "Battle for Germantown". The football rivalry with Quince Orchard is widely considered one of the best in the state, with each school winning three state titles.

State championships

Northwest High School has won a total of 31 state championships in team events, as well 67 individual state championships.

Notable alumni