King City Secondary School

King City Secondary School
Semper progrediens Always progressing
Address
2001 King Road King City, Ontario, L7B 1K2, Canada
Information
School number	919586
School board	York Region District School Board
Religious affiliation	Secular
Superintendent	Leslie Johnstone
Area trustee	Gord Kerr
Principal	Tod Dungey
Vice principal	Michael Grieve, Linda Di Marco
School type	High school
Grades	9-12
Language	English
Mascot	Lion
Colours	Green and gold
Founded	1961
Enrolment	1021
Homepage	www.kingcity.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

For the school in King City, California, see King City High School.

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

Campus

KCSS is located across the street from the King City branch of King Township Public Library. The main building was constructed in 1960 and opened in 1961, 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 Canadian 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.

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.

The student body comprises residents from the following communities:

• 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{:

• 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.

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 program, in conjunction with Ontario Power Generation. The solar panels also operate a pump connected to a man-made pond on the school grounds.

King City has a very active drama program. In November, a student directed one-act play festival, called the Arthur B Toast festival, is held. Between 8 and 15 modern plays are performed, from comedy to drama to a little bizarre, involving around 70 students. Each year, more of the plays are student written.

In the spring, a more traditional play is performed to offer students that experience as well. Again, a large number of students are involved as actors, tech crew, stage crew, set design, makeup and costuming and publicity. Matinees are held for the local feeder schools.

Both of these are open to the public and members of the community are encouraged to come and support a group of incredible kids. Information about these events is available by calling the school and performances are covered by 'The King Weekly'. Performances can be arranged at other settings such as retirement homes, shelters and other community homes.

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". The junior team won the York Region championship in the 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010 seasons.

Notable Alumni

George Papandreou, 1970 graduate of King City Secondary School.

George Papandreou graduated from King City Secondary School in 1970. He served as Prime Minister of Greece, 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).

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.

Keith Glass, founded the country and bluegrass band Prairie Oyster in 1974, graduated from KCSS in 1972.

Jeff O'Neill, a retired NHL hockey player, graduated from KCSS in the mid 1990s.

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 Maarten, a portion of the Netherlands Antilles.

External links

• King City Secondary School website
• York Region District School Board: King City Secondary School
• KCSS Alumni website
• http://king-city-secondary-school-contact-pages.ca/