Northwestern High School (Michigan)
Detroit Collegiate Preparatory Academy at Northwestern is a public high school in Detroit, part of Detroit Public Schools, the re-named successor to Northwestern High School. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000. 

The school features numerous extracurricular activities, including Debate, US Army JROTC, and interscholastic and intramural athletics. NHS also offers several advanced placement (AP) courses.

Northwestern serves as the neighborhood high school for Highland Park residents, as no senior high schools exist within Highland Park boundaries.  about 180 students from Highland Park attended Northwestern. 

Athletics and Notable alumni should include the legend alumni athlete, Ron Teasley. First African American captain of the Colts basketball team. After college, he returned as a Teacher, Mentor and Coach at Northwestern taking the basketball and baseball teams to PSL championships and produced several outstanding athletes who went on to play professionally. He is a NW Hall of Famer and is still active in the alumni association.

History
In 2012 Southwestern High School closed; many former Southwestern students were rezoned to Northwestern.

Highland Park Community High School of Highland Park Schools closed in 2015. DPS became the designated school district for the high school students of Highland Park, and Northwestern High became the zoned high school for the city. That year United Automobile Workers (UAW)-Ford financed a renovation of the school's athletic facilities.

Athletics
For more than one hundred years, Northwestern High School has produced many outstanding student athletes who have excelled at the collegiate level and beyond. Colt alumni achievements include National Collegiate Athletic Association championships and Olympic gold medals.

In 2007-2008, Northwestern High won the Detroit Public Secondary Schools Athletic League Championship in men's basketball and football in the same school year. Since 1919, Northwestern basketball teams have claimed a total of sixteen DPSSAL titles. Northwestern also won the 1928 Michigan High School Athletic Association basketball championship.

Coach Bert Maris led Northwestern's swimming and diving program to three consecutive MHSAA team titles (1925 through 1927). In 1930, the Colt swimming team, coached by Leo Maas, won another MHSAA championship trophy; Maas also guided the school to five consecutive DPSSAL titles (1933 through 1937). To this day, Northwestern remains the only Detroit public high school to win a state team championship in the sport of swimming and diving.

The Northwestern Colts also boast an impressive record in track and field.

Bert Maris and Coach Warren Hoyt led Northwestern to the 1925 MHSAA title in track. Coach Malcom Weaver and the Colts won the state track championship in 1927, 1929 and 1930.

The Michigan high school sports archives also document Northwestern's MHSAA championship titles in tennis (1927), and cross country (1929).

Due to the influx of Highland Park students, as of about 2015 the school was in the process of restoring its marching band and the wrestling programs that had been popular at Highland Park Renaissance High.

The school's gymnasium, paint room, weight training room, and swimming pool were scheduled to receive renovations circa 2015.

Notable alumni

 Florence Ballard, original member of the Motown girl-group The Supremes
 Henry Carr (1961), former world record holder at 200 meters; won two gold medals at 1964 Summer Olympics; competing for Arizona State University, was national collegiate and national AAU champion; played in the NFL for the New York Giants as a safety
 Albert Cleage, Christian minister; a leading advocate of the civil rights movement; his first book, The Black Messiah was published in 1968
 John Conyers, United States Congressman (1965–2017); chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
 Chris Douglas-Roberts, professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks
 Forest Evashevski (1935), 2000 inductee to the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame
 Melvin Franklin (1959), bass singer for The Temptations
 Fletcher Gilders (1949), 1948 MHSAA Track and Field Athlete of the Year; in 1949, he established a national interscholastic record in pole vault (13' 3"); springboard diver; competed at the 1948 and 1956 US Olympic Trials
 Willie Horton, former MLB player (Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners)
 James Jamerson (1954), bass guitarist; performed on 30+ #1 Hits for Motown Records; known as the "father of modern bass guitar"
 Alex Johnson, former MLB player (Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, California Angels, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers), 1970 All-Star and American League home run champion
 Ron Johnson (1974), played for Eastern Michigan University; selected in first round of 1978 NFL draft by Pittsburgh Steelers; cornerback and safety for seven seasons
 Ron A. Johnson (1965), played football at University of Michigan, and in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants
 Bill Jones (1984), professional basketball player
 Casey Kasem (born Kemal Amin), radio and television personality
 Damon Keith, Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
 Willie Kirkland, former MLB player (San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators)
 Byron Krieger (1920-2015), Olympic fencer
 Hobie Landrith (1948), played college baseball for Michigan State; catcher for several Major League Baseball teams; first player chosen by the 1962 New York Mets expansion team
 John Mayberry, former MLB player (Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees)
 Ernie McCoy (1927), basketball player and head coach for University of Michigan, athletic director at Penn State
 David M. Nelson (1938), University of Michigan halfback; innovative football coach who developed the Wing T formation
 Philip Northrup (1923), top-rated long jumper among Michigan high school athletes in 1923; three-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American, in the javelin throw and pole vault, for the University of Michigan (1925–27); inducted to university's Hall of Fame in 2007
 Ray Parker Jr., guitarist, songwriter, producer, recording artist; wrote the theme for Ghostbusters
 Henry Reed, NFL player
 Carlos Rogers (1989), retired professional basketball player; first-round selection of Seattle SuperSonics during the 1994 NBA Draft
 Terry Tyler (1974), selected to Sunkist All-American Team; played for University of Detroit, then 11 seasons of professional basketball with three NBA teams
 Willis Ward (1931), won high jump at 1929 MHSAA championships; won 120 and 220-yard hurdles at 1930 MHSAA finals; set national high school mark (1.98 meters) in high jump while winning a third consecutive DPSSAL title in 1931; the second African-American to letter in football at University of Michigan; in track, three-time All-American and eight-time Big-Ten champion; later a Wayne County probate judge
 Mary Wells, singer with Motown Records, famous for the hit song "My Guy" 
• Marie Wright Teasley, wrote for the Colts newspaper. Became the ‘Jet Set communist and Womens Editor at the Michigan Chronicle newspaper. Won over 75 journalism awards, including Media Woman of the Year and several NNPA awards.

References

External links
 Detroit Collegiate Preparatory Academy at Northwestern
 Profile at Detroit Public Schools
 "Inside Detroit Public Schools » Northwestern High School." Detroit Public Schools. November 14, 2008.

Public high schools in Michigan
Educational institutions established in 1909
High schools in Detroit
1909 establishments in Michigan
 
Detroit Public Schools Community District