London Central Secondary School

Infobox Education in Canada
name= London Central Secondary School


imagesize= 250px
motto= Sola Nobilitas Scientia
motto_translation= only in knowledge is there nobility
streetaddress= 509 Waterloo Street
city= London
province= Ontario
postalcode= N6B 2P8
areacode=
phone= [phone]
fax=
email=
url= http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/central/
schoolnumber=
schoolboard= Thames Valley District School Board
affiliation=
superintendent=
trustee=
principal= Mr. Jim Robertson
viceprincipal= Mrs. Connie Bray
administrator=
schooltype= secondary
grades= 9-12
language= English
area=
mascot= Golden Ghost
teamname= Central Golden Ghosts
colours= Purple & Gold
founded= 1877
enrollment= 986 [cite web |url=http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/schools/Secondary_October2007.pdf |title=Secondary School Student Enrolment |accessdate=2008-01-26 |date=2007-10-31 |publisher=Thames Valley District School Board]
enrollment_as_of=31 October 2007

London Central Secondary School is located at the corner of Dufferin Avenue and Waterloo Street in downtown London, Ontario. It is a member of the Thames Valley District School Board. It has approximately 1000 students in full attendance, ranging from grades nine to twelve. The school mascot is the "Golden Ghost".

Being the oldest school in the city, Central has a history that can be traced back to a Grammar School of 1826-1926 near the forks of the Thames River. When this Grammar School became too small, a Union School was erected. The Union School was renamed Central School in 1865; however, the school was razed in 1890 when other schools were able to accommodate Central students.

London Collegiate Institute was constructed on its present site in 1877; the school was destroyed by fire in 1920.

In 1922, the new London Central Collegiate Institute was officially opened. It was enlarged in 1962 and again in 1968. Central celebrated its centennial in 1977. Construction of an addition including new weight room, elevator and conference room was completed in August 1993. Further extensive renovations took place during 1995-1996 which fully modernized Central’s building, made it mostly wheelchair accessible, and incorporated a school-wide computer network for students. The school's gym has recently been renovated, replacing the original tile flooring with hardwood. Instead of just taking out the old floor and putting the new one in, the school ran into a dilemma. The old tile flooring was literally the ceiling for the basement. So instead, they placed the new wood flooring over the old tile flooring making it look as if they did in fact remove the tiles. Once the school found out they were putting the new floor over the old, students and teachers came into the gym at random times throughout the day, and drew messages to a late student, Alex Vlach, who had died from cancer earlier in the year.

From 1979 until 1999, London Central was the host to the Module scolaire de langue française (MSLF) - the first public French first language high school in London, Ont. Before the 1998-1999 school year, the MSLF became École secondaire Gabriel-Dumont and it moved into a new Le Centre Desloges (CDL) for the start of the 1999-2000 school year. Until the move the students in the MSLF had been fully integrated in life at Central, participating as Golden Ghosts in music, drama and sports. Students from the MSLF were often elected to Central students’ council, including student council president.

Notable alumni

* Thalia Assuras, Anchorwoman for CBS;
* Karen Baldwin, Miss Universe, 1982;
* Murray Barr, Physician and medical researcher;
* The Essentials, gold-selling a cappella group;
* Brent Fewster, Poet and Novelist
* Victor Garber, Actor;
* Ted Giannoulas, the San Diego Chicken (baseball team mascot);
* Natalie Glebova, Miss Universe, 2005;
* Jenny Jones, the daytime talk show host. She also attended Clarke Road Secondary School;
* Edgar Sydney Little, Senator
* Luke Macfarlane, Actor;
* David Peterson, the twentieth Premier of Ontario;
* John Robarts, the seventeenth Premier of Ontario;
* Shad (rapper), Hip Hop Artist
* David Suzuki, geneticist, environmental and civil rights activist;
* Jonathan Wexler, Actor;

School Fight Song

Purple and Gold
Purple and Gold
Hit 'em in the wishbone and Knock 'em cold!
Treat 'em rough, caveman stuff
Pull their hair and mess them up
Razzle Dazzle

sis boom bah,
London Central,
Rah Rah Rah!!!

References

External links

* [http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/central/ London Central Secondary School website]
* [http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/central/music Central Music Website]
* [http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/central/sp Central Student Parliament Website]
* [http://actioncentral.wikispaces.com "Action Central", the student newspaper]