The North Hills School District is located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, just north of the city of Pittsburgh. The district encompasses Ross Township and the Borough of West View, a 14.6-square mile area with a population of nearly 40,000.
Approximately 4,700 students attend the district’s six schools. The district employs about 700 people including 330 teachers.
North Hills combines the attractiveness of suburban living with the easily accessible cultural and educational opportunities that Pittsburgh has to offer. Ross Township boasts a strong retail corridor along McKnight Road with shopping malls, restaurants, specialty shops and other conveniently located commercial establishments. Numerous recreational facilities and parks are located within and adjacent to the district.
NHSD has four elementary schools that serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The average elementary class size is 21.35 students.
North Hills Middle School (grades 6-8) and North Hills High School (grades 9-12) share a hilltop campus.
The district offers 22 Advanced Placement courses, 23 College in High School courses, 19 career and technical courses through the A.W. Beattie Career Center and more than 100 online course offerings for blended study or fully online.
The district provides additional learning opportunities outside of the classroom through clubs, activities and athletics. There are 45 extra- or co-curricular activities and clubs at the high school and 15 at the middle school.
North Hills students have been recognized nationally, regionally and across the state for various academic, arts and athletic honors.
In 2021, NHSD ranked No. 16 out of more than 100 school districts in southwest Pennsylvania and No. 51 in the state by the Pittsburgh Business Times. U.S. News & World Report placed North Hills High School in the top 14 percent of high schools nationwide.
For seven straight years (2015-2021), the North Hills School District has been named a Best Community for Music Education by the nationally-recognized NAMM Foundation. In 2021, North Hills High School was awarded the Eastern Division Blue Ribbon from the National Band Association, and the American Prize in Band Performance for the high school division.
North Hills High School has received Excellence by Design accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. The noted commission also named the school’s music department a Program of Distinction, one of only six music programs in the nation.
In 2021, North Hills' World Language Department was awarded the prestigious Golden Globe award from the Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association (PSMLA), one of just 12 recipients statewide.
North Hills Middle School is an Apple Distinguished School, one of just 470 in the world, and the middle school is also home to Joe Welch, Pennsylvania’s Teacher of the Year in 2020, and Anthony Burns, the NHL’s Most Valuable Teacher in January 2021.