In 2017, Northline Secondary originally opened its doors to a sixth-grade class at 5815 Airline Drive. As all our other schools, Northline has gradually added a new grade level every year and its founding class is currently juniors.
As the student population increased, however, they quickly outgrew their old home. Within that time, YES Prep also began to expand to include elementary schools and last year, the old Northline building was remodeled to become the home of our new YES Prep Airline Elementary.
While our Northline Revolutionaries were originally scheduled to move into their new home at the beginning of this school year, readjustments had to be made while their new home was being finished. After two and a half months of middle school students sharing space at Airline Elementary and high school students at YES Prep Northwest Secondary, the wait is finally over!
On Wednesday, October 19, 2022, Northline Secondary officially opened its doors and welcomed the Revolutionaries to their new home located at 441 Little York Road.
Exciting times at Northline Secondary
(Left to right): Principal McGruder, CEO Mark DiBella and Assistant Principal Zicuria Ussery
Founding Northline principal Brittany McGruder shared, “I’m really excited to be opening a brand-new school. We opened in 2017 with Hurricane Harvey and then the pandemic hit a few years later so it’s been a lot of change. To move into this new building, it feels like we are finally home and we are all really excited about that.”
Eleventh-grade teacher Dylan Lewis shared the same sentiment, “Being at Northline from the very beginning and experiencing all the trials we’ve experienced, it's nice seeing our hard work come to fruition.” He added, “Being able to serve our community and have this resource for students is really exciting.”
Out with the old and in with the new
LeNette Thibodeaux, director of student support, expressed the excitement felt by students and families now that Northline has officially opened its doors, “Northline has a spirit of joy and community, and it's just amazing to have this new space. Our students are excited! Our families are excited! It's been a long time coming. I’ve been here now for six years, I was a founding member at Northline, and we had some great memories in the old building but I'm excited to make some new ones in this new building.”
When we asked juniors of the founding class how they felt about their new school, Jade Perez-Cabrera said, “Hearing that we were going to have our own building, I was really happy. I remember discussing it with my friend and imagining the possibilities: Will we have two stories; will the middle school and high school be separate; what about the size of the cafeteria?”
The Revolutionaries’ new building is, in fact, two stories tall and includes a full-size soccer field, specialty labs for science and art and a two-story library with a loft study space for students. And to Jade’s last question, it too has a spacious cafeteria.
Patience pays off
The spirit of Northline, our mascot, is the Revolutionaries and that’s what I feel this process has been for us.
The staff, students and families of Northline showed incredible patience and resilience during this entire process and Principal McGruger wanted to share the following message with them, “I want to express a tremendous amount of gratitude to our students, to our families, to our staff who showed tremendous patience throughout this process. The spirit of Northline, our mascot, is the Revolutionaries and that’s what I feel this process has been for us. The grit, the determination, the passion that everyone has shown, of what it means to be a Northline family. And now that we are in this building, now that we are finally home, we can continue to do the work that we are here to do, which is to get our kids to and through college and to serve our community.”
Salome Sandate, a junior, had her own special message for the Northline principal and staff, “I have a special shout out for Ms. McGruder. For always sticking with us, since we were in sixth grade, and everything we’ve been through. And our Northline teachers too for being supportive and always pushing us to do our best.”
Congratulations to our Northline Revolutionary family! We look forward to seeing them make this new school building their new home.