Northridge Preparatory School

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Northridge Preparatory School
Established	1976
Type	Private College Preparatory
Headmaster	Mr. Richard Meyer
Students	286 Students
Grades	6–12
Location	Niles, Illinois, USA
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Maroon and Gold
Mascot	Knights
Website	www.northridgeprep.org

Northridge Preparatory School, or Northridge Prep (acronym NRP), is a private, college preparatory Catholic school for young men located in Niles, Illinois.

Northridge and the Willows Academy, a school for girls, are operated by the Alliance For Character In Education (known until 1997 as The Willows Foundation^[1]), an Opus Dei affiliate. Northridge was one of two boys' schools, and five high schools in total, operated by Opus Dei affiliates in the United States as of 1995.^[2] The school is a member of The Independent School League, the Illinois High School Association,^[3] and the Lake Michigan Association of Independent Schools.^[4]

1 Accreditation
2 Relationship With The Archdiocese of Chicago
3 Enrollment
4 Sports
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Accreditation

Northridge is recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education as a secondary school.^[5]

Because the subject of accreditation and institutional peer review is not addressed in the school's publications, the schools status in this regard is evident by looking at the works of accrediting organizations. Northridge is not listed in any membership categories by either the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement^[6] or the Independent Schools Association of The Central States.^[7] Except for The Willows and Northridge Prep, all other members of the Independent School League and the Illinois members of the Lake Michigan Association of Independent Schools are listed as accredited by one or both of these bodies.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Relationship With The Archdiocese of Chicago

Northridge does not cooperate with the Archdiocese in the manner of other Catholic schools in Cook and Lake counties. Northridge is not listed in the directory of Catholic schools published by the office of Catholic Schools and does not participate in the Chicago Catholic Schools Placement exam.^[8] The school is not bound by any of the archdiocese's policies regarding staff qualifications and compensation; nor is it bound by archdiocesan youth protection policies. The schools own policies in that regard are not published.

In 1995, Northridge attempted to purchase empty school property from the Archdiocese. Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Bernardin and The Archdiocese College of Consultors approved the sale, but the Finance Council and the Presbyteral Council rejected this bid.^[9]

[edit] Enrollment

Enrollment 2005–2006^[5]
Grade	Students
06	035
07	039
08	043
Middle school	117
09	049
10	043
11	051
12	036
High School	179
Total	296

Unpublished sources^[who?] state that the enrollment for the 2007–2008 school year is 286 students, with about 200 students in the high school. This is a small decline from previous years.

The Illinois State Board of Education publishes enrollment statistics for both public and non public schools. The most recent data from the ISBE is from August 2007, but has no data on Northridge, although it does contain information about the enrollment of the Willows Academy other schools in the Chicago Prep Athletic Conference. ISBE data exists for Northridge for previous years; data for the enrollment table is taken from the ISBE report for the 2005–2006 school year.^[5]

[edit] Sports

Northridge Prep plays in the Independent Schools League.^[10] The Athletic Director for Northridge Prep is Will Rey, former Head Basketball Coach at Loyola University.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, the cross country team is making their third straight appearance in the state tournament.^{[citation needed]}