Seay Common School was the first school in the area prior to Northern Hills in 1934-1938. The original single room schoolhouse was built on Jung Rd. It had one teacher and eight grades. In 1938 the schoolhouse was sold as a house and a front porch was then added.   When the Seay Common School was sold a new one was constructed off of Higgins Rd. and Stahl. In 1955, this one room school building was moved to MacArthur H.S. to be used as a band hall, when the Common Schools became the North East Rural School District.

            In 1982 Northern Hills Elementary School was constructed and opened on Higgins Rd. at Uhr Lane. It was built as an open classroom concept school building. It educated children from the grades of Kindergarten through Fifth grade. It has gone through many important construction changes to serve it’s increasing population. In the spring of 1999 a second wing was completed.  In 2004 a beautiful new cafeteria and clinic were finished.

            Northern Hills has always strived to meet the educational needs of its students. In 1997 Northern Hills became the second Basic School in the district. Basic School is based on making connections with the community, coherence in the curriculum, enriched climate within the classroom and building character within the students. In continuing to enrich our curriculum, Northern Hills became a Core Knowledge campus in 1999.  Core Knowledge provides a coherently organized plan of content that allows us to provide our students with solid academic skills and knowledge for a strong framework.