King City Secondary School

Infobox Education in Canada
name = King City Secondary School


motto = "Semper progrediens"
motto_translation = Always progressing
streetaddress = 2001 King Road
city = King City
province = Ontario
postalcode = L7B 1K2
url = [http://www.kingcity.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ www.kingcity.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca]
schoolnumber = 919586
schoolboard = York Region District School Board
affiliation = Secular
superintendent = Dennis Connor
trustee = Susan Plamondon
principal = Teresa Micone
viceprincipal = Anne Pace
schooltype = High school
grades = 9-12
language = English
mascot = Lion
teamname =
colours = Green and gold
founded = 1961
enrollment = 1100
lastupdate = April 14, 2006
bgcolor_section = #C9E378
bgcolor_label = #C9E378
bgcolor_value = #FBF0C8
bgcolor_

bgcolor_address = #FBF0C8

King City Secondary School, or KCSS, is a secondary education facility in King City, Ontario, Canada. It is a secular public school in the York Region District School Board. The school is located at 2001 King Road, and the current Principal is Teresa Micone.

Campus

KCSS is across from the King City branch of King Township Public Library. The main building was constructed in 1960 and opened in 1961cite web|url=http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=S20600001&sc=206|title=Our School|publisher=York Region District School Board|accessdate=2006-04-14] , and major renovations to the structure were implemented in 1962, resulting in the addition of a technical studies area, often referred to as the "Tech Wing". In 1966, a third gymnasium and a library were added as an eastern wing to the main building. In 1991, a new library facility was constructed adjacent to the Tech Wing, which also resulted in the creation of an inner courtyard. The newest addition to the school which was added in 2007 is the state of the art science lab.

The school features an outdoor 400 m track, which encircles an American football field on the western part of its campus, and a soccer pitch on the eastern part of its campus. Both fields serve multiple functions, including lacrosse, track and field, rugby union and field hockey. During the summer, they are used by youth sports leagues in King City.

Students are currently involved in planting and tending to a coniferous hedge on the school's border with the "Springhill Gardens" residential area, which has a chain-link fence perimeter.

Boundaries and demographics

KCSS serves a geographically large area, since there are many sparsely populated communities in that area. The primary boundary is similar to the township boundaries for King, though a small area in the northeast of King is served by schools in Aurora. Additionally, the eastern part of Oak Ridges, west of Yonge Street to the King town line, and parts of northern Vaughan, including Maple and Kleinburg and nearby communities, are served by KCSS.cite web|url=http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/pdfs/w/schools/boundary/206Boundary.pdf|format=PDF|title=King City Secondary School Boundary Map|publisher=York Region District School Board|accessdate=2006-04-14]

The student body comprises residents from the following communitiescite web|url=http://www.kingcity.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/profile.htm|title=King City Secondary School Profile|publisher=York Region District School Board|accessdate=2006-04-14] :

* Maple (30%)
* King City (17%)
* Nobleton (15%)
* Woodbridge (11%)
* Kettleby (9%)
* Schomberg (7%)
* Kleinburg (6%)
* Other (5%)

Curriculum

King City Secondary School follows the curriculum standards set by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Additionally, the school offers{cite web|url=http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=S20600003&sc=206|title=King City Secondary School Curriculum and Co-Curricular Activities|publisher=York Region District School Board|accessdate=2006-04-14] :

* the English as a Second Language Program
* the Alternative Education Program
* the Music Program
* the High Performance Athlete Program
* the Leadership Program
* a variety of Special Education Programs

King City Secondary School is a semestered school; for each of the fall and winter semesters, students register for up to four courses. Each day has four 75-minute periods, with a lunch period between the second and third academic periods.

Extra-curricular activities

King City Secondary School had an annual Marine Biology Science Trip to the Florida Keys. Established in 1990, the goal of the field trip is to demonstrate to students the relationship between ecosystems and human activity. The trip is part of the Independent Studies Program (ISP) for some senior science students, and every student is required to take daily tests and complete assignments throughout the trip.cite web|url=http://www.michaelsharris.com/marinebiologytrip/text/marinebio05.htm|title=Marine Biology Trip|last=Harris|first=Michael|publisher=King City Secondary School|accessdate=2006-04-14]

The school has installed solar panels which connect with the school's primary power distribution system as part of a grade 10 project. This project was conducted as part of the University of Toronto "Sustainable Toronto" programcite web|url=http://www.utoronto.ca/envstudy/sustainabletoronto/archived/SustainabilitySuccessStories.htm|title=Sustainability Success Stories|work=Sustainable Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto|accessdate=2006-04-14] , in conjunction with Ontario Power Generation. The solar panels also operate a pump connected to a man-made pond on the school grounds.

Sports

Sports teams from KCSS are part of the York Region Athletics Association, which coordinates all competitive sports activities in York Region.

Non-competitive school intramural sports leagues, organized and scheduled by the "Athletic Council" and senior physical and health education students, have active participation. Most events occur during the lunch period.

The school's football teams are known as the "Lions".

Alumni

George Papandreou graduated from King City Secondary School in 1970.cite web|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040306/GREECE06/TPInternational/Europe |title=Former Ontario student running to be Greek PM|last=Oziewicz|first=Estanislao|publisher=Globe and Mail|date=2006-03-04|accessdate=2006-04-14] He is the son and grandson of former Greek prime ministers, and was the Foreign Minister of Greece from 1999 to 2004. He is also leader of Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), which was defeated in the 2004 Greek national election, but holds 117 of the 300 seats in the Greek Parliament.

Rasmus Lerdorf, original author of the PHP programming language, graduated from KCSS in 1988.

Rick Hampton, a retired NHL hockey player, graduated from KCSS in 1975. He was drafted by the California Golden Seals with the third pick in the 1974 NHL amateur draft, and played with that organization, which later became the Cleveland Barons, until it was folded with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. He was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on July 14, 1978. His career ended after he tore knee ligaments in a game in Winnipeg on January 6, 1980.cite web|url=http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1974/74003.html|title=1974 NHL Amateur Draft Pick|publisher=hockeydraftcentral.com|accessdate=2006-04-14]

Keith Glass, who graduated from KCSS in 1972, founded the country and bluegrass band Prairie Oyster in 1974. It disbanded temporarily in 1978. He had also founded an R&B group called "King City Slickers" while still in school.

Jeff O'Neill, who graduated from KCSS in the mid 1990s, and went on to play for the Hartford Whalers—Carolina Hurricanes franchise; he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 30, 2005.

Film

The 1995 movie To Die For had a number of scenes shot at King City Secondary School. KCSS appeared as "Little Hope High School" in the movie. One scene featured a geography classroom (southeast corner of 2nd floor) as the set for the Nicole Kidman classroom scene in the movie. A lottery was held for $2 per ticket to determine which attending students would be cast as extras in the scenes filmed at the school.

Walt Disney's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, which debuted in 2004, also had some scenes filmed during a three-day period in July 2003 at King City Secondary School. The revenue generated from the filming rights of this movie assured sufficient capital for the construction of a new music room.

Trivia

* The school's motto, "semper progrediens", is also the motto of the island of Sint Maartencite web|url=http://flagspot.net/flags/an-sm.html|title=St. Maarten (Netherlands Antilles)|publisher=flagspot.net|accessdate=2006-04-14] , a portion of the Netherlands Antilles.
* There has been 2 reported Bomb threats in the year of 2008. The men who said there was a bomb in the building phoned at 11 am both times. There were no bombs found in the building. The bomb threats were April 2008 and September 24, 2008 [http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/418463] [http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_22053.aspx]

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.kingcity.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ King City Secondary School website]
* [http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=S99999999&sc=206 York Region District School Board: King City Secondary School]
* [http://www.kcssalumni.com/ KCSS Alumni website]
*http://king-city-secondary-school-contact-pages.ca/