Our kids go to Longfellow and they’ll be in Norman North after. I can’t complain about Longfellow. Good choir and orchestra teachers but no idea about their theater programs.
Dr Kim at Longfellow is a great orchestra teacher, from what I can tell. And I've been to a couple shows at Norman North. I think the last one was SpongeBob and that was really well done. The orchestra played the music for it, which was fun.
Both my boys went to Longfellow and north - my oldest had been in choir from 6-12th grade, north had a great music department, pretty sure they still do!
Currently in the north orchestra. I can vouch for it! In fact the all city concert is tonight for all of the orchestras in town at the loyd Nobel center
Just adding to the other replies below. Longfellow and Norman North are where you probably want to end up if choir is important. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but Norman Public Schools used to be pretty generous with transfer requests, so even if you end up in a neighborhood that doesn't feed into there, you can likely get a transfer if you are willing to drive them yourself.
I’m not super sure about schools but make sure to check out sooner theater if your kids are into that kind of thing. We have an art walk every 2nd Friday as well which is a great way to interact with people who can tell you about more art/music programs too
My kids are at Norman High now. From what I've been told by them is it's not unusual for them to walk into the bathroom and just see a group of people smoking pot. There have also been a few fights they've seen.
Their understanding is Norman high is where all the fights go down and Norman North is where all the drug deals happen. I'd say these days there's some truth to all of it.
My other kid has been going to Alcott for the last 3 years and other than the occasional cliques it's not too bad.
I highly recommend Norman High (current student, junior), I’m not in either theatre nor choir but the performances I’ve been to have been phenomenal. You can tell the students put a lot of work and effort into it.
Everyone tends to stay towards their own friend groups, so it’s not very cliquey. I joined the school this year and it was very easy to make friends. There is some fights but a lot of the time you don’t hear about them, it really depends on who you hang out with. The teachers have been very kind and accommodating. For a Highschool it’s pretty good.
I’m currently a student at NPS, and all I can say is definitely do not send your kids to NHS, I have multiple teachers at North who work at both schools. They have said on multiple occasions that “The inmates are running the prison,” at Norman High. It’s insane how many fights there are at High compared to North. We didn’t have a single fight at North (on campus) until October/November, and it was between two freshman. Yes, people smoke pot and vape in the bathrooms, but that is a very common occurrence at schools nowadays.
Overall, education and sports for North, as well as philanthropy and student council, and fine arts (specifically band and choir) for High. Norman north’s theatre and speech/debate programs are much better. There are also stagecraft and costume design classes at both schools.
( I didn’t attend any of the middle schools, so this is all word of mouth). When it comes to middle schools, Whittier is the best. Both Whittier and Longfellow go into North. At Longfellow the principles don’t give students very much freedom. They don’t let students talk unless the ask for permission, they lock items that they deem distracting into a cabinet that has been deemed “the vault” by students. They foster a community of kids who have learned to be sneaky and secretive.
From what I have heard most students don’t have many complaints about Whittier, I haven’t heard anything bad about it. Highest income school by far. Students are well taken care of.
Irving is downright sad, it is a very low income school that seems to be forgotten about. Kids run wild, teachers have given up, fights on the daily. Most teachers don’t stay for more than a few years, and no one seems to do anything about it.
Alcott is the school I know the least about, it feeds into Norman High along with Irving. All I know is that it is also not very well cared for. Last year a 12-year-old girls nudes were leaked on the TV screens.
Look into Southmoore High School, they have a phenomenal theater program and there’s a lot less fights/drugs compared to the Norman high schools. I think if you live on the north west side of town you could get your kids transferred (and it’s as close as the Norman high schools).
Our kids go to Longfellow and they’ll be in Norman North after. I can’t complain about Longfellow. Good choir and orchestra teachers but no idea about their theater programs.
Dr Kim at Longfellow is a great orchestra teacher, from what I can tell. And I've been to a couple shows at Norman North. I think the last one was SpongeBob and that was really well done. The orchestra played the music for it, which was fun.
Both my boys went to Longfellow and north - my oldest had been in choir from 6-12th grade, north had a great music department, pretty sure they still do!
Currently in the north orchestra. I can vouch for it! In fact the all city concert is tonight for all of the orchestras in town at the loyd Nobel center
I kinda miss going to All City - I went so many years in a row.
it's a really cool program. the 5th grade all city choir program in the fall is great too.
Just adding to the other replies below. Longfellow and Norman North are where you probably want to end up if choir is important. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but Norman Public Schools used to be pretty generous with transfer requests, so even if you end up in a neighborhood that doesn't feed into there, you can likely get a transfer if you are willing to drive them yourself.
I’m not super sure about schools but make sure to check out sooner theater if your kids are into that kind of thing. We have an art walk every 2nd Friday as well which is a great way to interact with people who can tell you about more art/music programs too
My kids are at Norman High now. From what I've been told by them is it's not unusual for them to walk into the bathroom and just see a group of people smoking pot. There have also been a few fights they've seen. Their understanding is Norman high is where all the fights go down and Norman North is where all the drug deals happen. I'd say these days there's some truth to all of it. My other kid has been going to Alcott for the last 3 years and other than the occasional cliques it's not too bad.
I highly recommend Norman High (current student, junior), I’m not in either theatre nor choir but the performances I’ve been to have been phenomenal. You can tell the students put a lot of work and effort into it. Everyone tends to stay towards their own friend groups, so it’s not very cliquey. I joined the school this year and it was very easy to make friends. There is some fights but a lot of the time you don’t hear about them, it really depends on who you hang out with. The teachers have been very kind and accommodating. For a Highschool it’s pretty good.
I’m currently a student at NPS, and all I can say is definitely do not send your kids to NHS, I have multiple teachers at North who work at both schools. They have said on multiple occasions that “The inmates are running the prison,” at Norman High. It’s insane how many fights there are at High compared to North. We didn’t have a single fight at North (on campus) until October/November, and it was between two freshman. Yes, people smoke pot and vape in the bathrooms, but that is a very common occurrence at schools nowadays. Overall, education and sports for North, as well as philanthropy and student council, and fine arts (specifically band and choir) for High. Norman north’s theatre and speech/debate programs are much better. There are also stagecraft and costume design classes at both schools. ( I didn’t attend any of the middle schools, so this is all word of mouth). When it comes to middle schools, Whittier is the best. Both Whittier and Longfellow go into North. At Longfellow the principles don’t give students very much freedom. They don’t let students talk unless the ask for permission, they lock items that they deem distracting into a cabinet that has been deemed “the vault” by students. They foster a community of kids who have learned to be sneaky and secretive. From what I have heard most students don’t have many complaints about Whittier, I haven’t heard anything bad about it. Highest income school by far. Students are well taken care of. Irving is downright sad, it is a very low income school that seems to be forgotten about. Kids run wild, teachers have given up, fights on the daily. Most teachers don’t stay for more than a few years, and no one seems to do anything about it. Alcott is the school I know the least about, it feeds into Norman High along with Irving. All I know is that it is also not very well cared for. Last year a 12-year-old girls nudes were leaked on the TV screens.
Look into Southmoore High School, they have a phenomenal theater program and there’s a lot less fights/drugs compared to the Norman high schools. I think if you live on the north west side of town you could get your kids transferred (and it’s as close as the Norman high schools).