King City Secondary School
Encyclopedia
King City Secondary School, or KCSS, is a secondary education facility in King City
King City, Ontario
King City is an affluent, unincorporated village in King Township, Ontario, Canada, located just north of Toronto. It is the largest community in King Township, with 1,629 dwellings and a population of 4,902.-History:...

, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is a secular public school administered by the York Region District School Board
York Region District School Board
The York Region District School Board, also known as YRDSB, is the English-language public school board for York Regional Municipality located in Ontario, Canada. The York Region District School Board is currently the province's third largest school board, with an enrollment of over 115,000 students...

. 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
King Township Public Library
The King Township Public Library is a public library system that serves King Township, Ontario in Canada. It consists of four branches located at:* King City* Nobleton* Schomberg* Ansnorveldt...

. 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
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

 field on the western part of its campus, and a soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 pitch on the eastern part of its campus. Both fields serve multiple functions, including lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 and field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

. 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
King, Ontario
King is a township in York Region north of Toronto, within the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.The rolling hills of the Oak Ridges Moraine are the most prominent visible geographical feature of King. The Holland Marsh, considered to be Ontario's "vegetable basket", straddles King Township...

, though a small area in the northeast of King is served by schools in Aurora
Aurora, Ontario
Aurora is an affluent town in York Region, approximately 20 km north of Toronto. It is partially situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and is a part of the Greater Toronto Area and Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario.Many Aurora residents commute to Toronto and surrounding communities.In the...

. Additionally, the eastern part of Oak Ridges
Oak Ridges, Ontario
Oak Ridges is an unincorporated community in Ontario, Canada, and has been part of Richmond Hill's administrative area since its annexation in 1971. Although physically separate and distinct from Richmond Hill, it forms the northern portion of the municipality's boundary. Located about 16.5 km...

, west of Yonge Street to the King town line, and parts of northern Vaughan
Vaughan, Ontario
Vaughan is a city in York Region north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Vaughan is the fastest growing municipality in Canada achieving a population growth rate of 80.2% between 1996–2006, according to Statistics Canada having nearly doubled in population since 1991. Vaughan is located in Southern...

, including Maple
Maple, Ontario
Maple is a high-growth suburban community northwest of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Vaughan in York Region.-Geography:The west branch of the Don River rises to the northwest and flows 1 km west of Maple. Several creeks are to the east and the Black Creek begins slightly west...

 and Kleinburg
Kleinburg, Ontario
-External links:* * *...

 and nearby communities, are served by KCSS.

The student body comprises residents from the following communities:
  • Maple (30%)
  • King City (17%)
  • Nobleton
    Nobleton, Ontario
    Nobleton is an unincorporated village in southwestern King, Ontario, Canada. It is the third-largest community in the township, after King City and Schomberg. Located south of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Nobleton is surrounded by hills and forests...

     (15%)
  • Woodbridge
    Woodbridge, Ontario
    Woodbridge is a large suburban community in the City of Vaughan, just north of Toronto in Southern Ontario. It was once an independent town before being amalgamated with nearby communities to form the city in 1971. Its traditional downtown core is the Woodbridge Ave...

     (11%)
  • Kettleby (9%)
  • Schomberg
    Schomberg, Ontario
    Schomberg is an unincorporated village in northwestern King, Ontario, Canada. Situated north of the Oak Ridges Moraine and south of the Holland River, the village is surrounded by natural attractions....

     (7%)
  • Kleinburg (6%)
  • Other (5%)


Curriculum

King City Secondary School follows the curriculum standards set by the Ontario Ministry of Education
Ministry of Education (Ontario)
The Ministry of Education is the agency of the Ontario government in the Canadian province of Ontario responsible for government policy, funding, curriculum planning and direction in all levels of public education, including elementary and secondary schools.This Ministry is responsible for...

. 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
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 Sustainable Toronto program, in conjunction with Ontario Power Generation
Ontario Power Generation
Ontario Power Generation is a public company wholly owned by the Government of Ontario. OPG is responsible for approximately 70% of the electricity generation in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Sources of electricity include nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, wind, and fossil fuel...

. 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
George Papandreou
Georgios A. Papandreou , commonly anglicised to George and shortened to Γιώργος in Greek, is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece following his party's victory in the 2009 legislative election...

 graduated from King City Secondary School in 1970. He is the current Prime Minister of Greece
Prime Minister of Greece
The Prime Minister of Greece , officially the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic , is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek cabinet. The current interim Prime Minister is Lucas Papademos, a former Vice President of the European Central Bank, following...

, son and grandson of former Greek prime ministers, and was the Foreign Minister of Greece
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is the senior minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece, established on 3 April 1833. The current Minister for Foreign Affairs, since 11 November 2011 is the former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas...

 from 1999 to 2004. He is also leader of Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...

 (PASOK), which is the current party in power in Greece.

Rasmus Lerdorf
Rasmus Lerdorf
Rasmus Lerdorf is a Danish programmer with Canadian citizenship and is most notable as the creator of the PHP scripting language. He authored the first two versions...

, original author of the PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...

 programming language, graduated from KCSS in 1988.

Rick Hampton
Rick Hampton
Richard Charles Hampton is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman. He was raised in King City, and attended King City Secondary School, from which he graduated in 1975....

, a retired NHL hockey player, graduated from KCSS in 1975.

Keith Glass, founded the country and bluegrass band Prairie Oyster
Prairie Oyster
Prairie Oyster is an award-winning Canadian country music group from Ontario. They were named Country Group or Duo of the year six times by both the Canadian Country Music Association and the Juno Awards. The band also won the Bud Country Fans' Choice Award from the CCMA in 1994...

 in 1974, graduated from KCSS in 1972.

Jeff O'Neill
Jeff O'Neill
Jeffrey O'Neill is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger in the National Hockey League . During his career, he played for the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes and the Toronto Maple Leafs...

, a retired NHL hockey player, graduated from KCSS in the mid 1990s.

Film

The 1995 movie To Die For
To Die For
To Die For is a 1995 dark comedy film, made in a mockumentary format, directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Buck Henry, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was based on the Pamela Smart story. It stars Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, and Joaquin Phoenix...

 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 $
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

2 per ticket to determine which attending students would be cast as extras in the scenes filmed at the school.

Walt Disney's
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a 2004 American Teen musical comedy film directed by Sara Sugarman and produced by Robert Shapiro and Matthew Hart for Walt Disney Pictures...

, 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
    Netherlands Antilles
    The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...

    .

External links

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