John L. Miller Great Neck North High School or simply "Great Neck North," is a public high school, including grades 9 through 12, in the village of Great Neck, New York, operated by the Great Neck School District. As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,073 students and 89.9 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.9:1. There were 77 students eligible for free lunch and 59 eligible for reduced-cost lunch. The school building was designed by the noted architectural firm of Guilbert and Betelle. According to Newsweek magazine's 2015 list of "America's Best High Schools," Great Neck North High School was ranked 105th. The school is on Polo Road, about a mile and a half from the LIRR Railroad station.
History
Great Neck High School was established in 1895, in a wood frame building on Arrandale Avenue at Middle Neck Road that also housed elementary school students. The wood building was expanded in 1900 but then destroyed by fire and replaced by a brick building in 1921. By this time high school students had moved into their own building, just to the west of the original Arrandale building. The site of the east Arrandale building is now a park and an apartment building for senior citizens. The first building named Great Neck High School opened in 1914. Its location was between the original Arrandale school and the original Great Neck Library. This school building, also built of brick, was demolished in 1976. The site of the west Arrandale building is now a parking lot for Great Neck House. The main section of the present building on Polo Road opened in 1929. The school was still known as Great Neck High School, as engraved above the building's main entrance. As the student population grew, the school became known as Great Neck Junior-Senior High School and served grades 7–12. By 1936, there were 1228 pupils, only grades 8–12 of which could fit in the Polo Road building. Grade 7 was housed in the west Arrandale building. After World War II ended, the school district's student population grew quickly. The Polo Road building was expanded in 1947, in general accordance with its architect's original plan. As the population explosion continued, the district built new buildings. In January 1952, Great Neck Junior High School was opened to serve grades 7–9, and the existing school was renamed Great Neck Senior High School, serving only grades 10–12. In 1958, a South campus including another high school and junior high school was opened. As a result, the existing high school was renamed Great Neck North Senior High School. In 1970, the school was renamed to honor Dr. John L. Miller upon his retirement after 28 years as superintendent of the school district. The new name was John L. Miller–Great Neck North Senior High School, though the full name was rarely used except for official documents. The student population shrank after the Baby Boom generation graduated in the 1970s, and grade 9 was moved back to the high school building. The current name of the school was then adopted: John L. Miller–Great Neck North High School. Also called "North". As of 1988, Great Neck North has an "open campus" policy. Students in grades 9 through 12 may go in and out of campus. Rona Telsey, a spokesperson for the district, said in 1988 that "open campus" had not been a controversy for the school. In 2010, the school made national news when former student Sam Eshaghoff was arrested for fraud after seven North High students had paid him to take the SAT for them.
Nikki Blonsky, actress who starred as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film version of Hairspray attended North for her freshman year but then left and attended the Village School and did her theatrical work at Great Neck South High School
