HISTORY:

·         The school was built in 1935.

·         The building was built on the former site of the Reading Hospital.

·         The Dedication and Formal Opening of the Northwest Junior High School was held on Thursday, November 12, 1936.  The central portion of the building contains the classrooms and is built around an open court laid out with flagstone walks and grass, and attractively landscaped with shrubbery.  On the south, along Spring Street, is the auditorium (with a seating capacity of one thousand) and on the north is the gymnasium (which is divided into boys and girls gyms).  The gymnasium has a seating capacity of 1650.  The building opened with 51 classrooms, a library with a workroom, and a passenger elevator.

·         Northwests first principal was Landis R. Klinger and remained here as principal until 1951. 

·         In the year 1988 Northwest became a Middle School instead of a Junior High School. The ninth grade was moved to the high school in 1991.  The Junior High had grades 7 thru 10 and the Middle School has grades 6 thru 8.  The last year for tenth grade at Northwest was 1973.

·         Northwest became a Title I Distinguished School in 1998.

·         The school contained the Reading School Districts Head Start Program until June 2001 when their space was used for the remodeling of the school making room for the computer labs.  The labs began to be used in November of 2001.

Approximate Number of Students:  975

Grades Served:  6 through 8

Number of Classrooms:  57 plus gym & library & 8 computer labs

Number of Teachers:  69

Number of Assistants:  12