Before 1957, it was located at 8th Street and Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia (later the home of Thomas Edison High School).

[citation needed] Northeast High School students comes from very diverse racial, economic, and cultural backgrounds.

Some classes struggle to maintain a maximum of 33 students, as the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) contract requires.

[3] Northeast High School's uniform policy was put into place in November 2009: white oxford button shirts with khaki pants.

For those students who live in areas further than a mile away from the school, SEPTA provides them with free weekly bus TransPasses.

The girls' field hockey team has won the Public League Championship the last four out of five years, last being in 2011.

In 2012, the boys' soccer team won the AAA public league championship after beating Franklin Towne Charter High School 1–0 on October 30, 2012.

The football team won the AAAA Public League Championship after beating George Washington High School 13–6 on November 13, 2010.

Northeast High School has many different programs known as Small Learning Communities (SLCs), each of which has a specific career focus.

Northeast High's SPARC program originated in 1962 by Mr. Robert A. G. Montgomery, Jr. Northeast High students united designed and built a three-man space capsule mock-up to test the student astronauts ability to handle the space environment.

With the help of a grant from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Heart Association, the program purchased electronic equipment and began to study in flight control instrumentation.

By the end of 1963, the students had designed a simulated capsule and control area, and construction began on a wing of the stage at the school.

The SPARC Project was updated to pursue the goals of President George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration.

Project SPARC was realigned to simulate the NASA Constellation program and its mission to return to the Moon.

In 2009 Project SPARC flew its first Constellation mission, sending six students to the Moon and establishing a two-module lunar habitat.

SPARC facilities include a 21' Shuttle Orbiter mockup built by the students, the actual Apollo training capsule from NASA, an eight station mission control center, a movie and animation learning center and electronics and robotics laboratories.

Students can utilize a new facility which incorporates computer and electronic action scripts, video presentations and simulations.

In December 2013 the Philadelphia School District, facing difficult budget challenges, cut off funding for all after-school programs including Project SPARC.

These funds enabled the SPARC students to carry out a May 2014 project to establish a permanent habitat on the Moon.