Nevada Union High School

Nevada Union High School is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of California's capital, Sacramento. Situated between Nevada City and Grass Valley, the school serves those two incorporated cities and a large surrounding community. The Nevada Union High School district covers a huge geographic area, with some students bussed in from as far as 56 miles away. NU was named a California Distinguished School in 1997 and 2012, and in 1998 was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon High School. NUHS serves ninth through twelfth grade students. NUHS does not have an ethnically diverse student population, as 99% are Caucasian. It is, however, economically diverse, with 45% of families qualifying for the Free and Reduced National School Lunch Program.HistoryNevada Union opened in 1961 to serve the needs of Nevada City, Grass Valley, and the surrounding communities. Prior to 1961, the high school was located in Grass Valley.In the 2005-2006 school year, 242 of 602 seniors (40%) took the SAT, with average scores of 554 in Critical Reading (~65th percentile), 559 in Math (~63rd percentile), and 548 in Writing (~68th percentile).Nevada Union HS campus was opened at its current location in 1961 as a Senior High School (Grades 10-12). This was not the first campus for NUHS. When the District was formed in 1952, the Senior High School opened at the previous Grass Valley High School and the Junior High School (Grades 7-9)* was initially opened at the former Nevada City High School. With the opening of the new campus in 1961, the Junior High School was moved to the campus of the previous Senior High School. After a few years, students at the main feeder grammar schools (Nevada City Elementary and Hennesey Elementary in Grass Valley) had the choice of remaining at their respective schools for Grades 7-8 or transferring to the Junior High School.