Northwestern High School (est.1951) is a public comprehensive secondary school located in Hyattsville, Maryland in Prince George's County, less than a mile from the internationally known University of Maryland, College Park. Two middle schools (Hyattsville Middle School and Nicholas Orem Middle School) feed into Northwestern, as well as twelve elementary schools, which are part of the Northwestern
Cluster of Schools. Completed in August 2000, at 386,000 sq ft (35,900 m2) and a capacity of 2,700-students,[1] Northwestern is the second largest high school in the state of Maryland when measured by total square footage, and it became the first of the county's current high schools to be replaced with a new facility. In December 2009, Northwestern was recognized as a Silver Medal School amongst "America's Best High Schools" by U.S. News & World Report.[2] Northwestern is accredited by the Commission on Secondary Schools[3] which is a division of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Jim Henson, famed television writer, producer, and creator of "The Muppets", graduated from Northwestern in 1954.[4] On October 5, 2002, during an official building dedication ceremony attended by Jane and Heather Henson, as well as representatives from The Jim Henson Legacy, Inc., Northwestern was given permission to rename the D/E/F-Wing at Northwestern, in honor of the late Jim Henson.[5] According to the Henson family, Northwestern is the only school in the nation that has ever been given the rights to use Mr.
