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London South Collegiate Institute
Public school in London, Ontario, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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London South Collegiate Institute (also known as S.C.I., South Secondary or South) is a public high school in London, Ontario, Canada.
South is administered by the Thames Valley District School Board. Approximately 600 students attend the school from grades 9-12. It offers a co-op program and a program for gifted students called the Academy Program.
The school colours are garnet and grey and the school mascot is the lion. South is known for its academic rigour, sports teams, and the strength of its arts program, which includes drama, visual arts, music, and dance.
The South Collegiate Alumni Association, established in 1999, organizes the school's reunions and alumni events, including annual homecoming events since 2007. South is one of the only high schools in Canada to host a homecoming with football games and a tailgate party.[5]
From May 24 to 26, 2013, South celebrated its 85th year at the Tecumseh Avenue location with a reunion.[6] It commemorated the 100th anniversary of its original founding on May 26, 2023.[7]
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History
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The school first opened in 1922, at the corner of Askin Street and Wharncliffe Road South, where Victoria Public School now lies, with 290 students and 10 teachers. The growing school moved to its current location on Tecumseh Avenue in June 1928, six years later.
School pride was a focus right from the early years. According to the school's website, early students recited a daily pledge: "We're here to win the day for the garnet and grey, and to London South we pledge allegiance now." The school's Latin motto, virtus repulsae nescia sordidae, means "courage will never know ignominious defeat." They are also known for the school's fight song:
Renovations
In the 1995-96 school year, the school underwent comprehensive renovations which included enclosing the school's former open central courtyard into an enclosed atrium.
Between 2005 and 2007, the rubber gym floor was replaced by a new wood floor, partly due to the success of the "Roar for the Floor" fundraising campaign. An outdoor scoreboard was also installed with money raised. In the summer of 2007, the field was revamped, with new sod, a sprinkler system, new football nets, bleachers, a paved track, new fence, and several portable classrooms removed. The field renovation costs were donated by alumnus Matt Giffen, and the field was named - in memory of his father - the James A. Giffen Memorial Field.
The school was formerly renamed “South Secondary School” for many decades, but regained its original name in 2009.[8]
Lightning strike
On the evening of June 24, 2025, during an intense thunderstorm occurring during the graduation ceremony of a local elementary school hosted at South's auditorium, lightning struck the school's chimney, forcing the evacuation and relocation of the ceremony and the closure of the school the next day, on what would be students' final scheduled day of exams for the 2024-25 school year. No injuries occurred, but the strike caused the chimney to partially collapse, and a portion of the chimney fell through the roof onto the third floor.[9] The incident, along with video of the strike captured by a witness in a car just outside the building, made national news.[10]
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Notable alumni
- Dan Brodbeck, record producer[11]
- Chuck Dalton, Olympic basketball player[12]
- Brett Dier, actor[13]
- Chris Doty, filmmaker, journalist
- Robert Ford, diplomat, poet[14]
- Alex Pierzchalski, CFL football player, Saskatchewan Roughriders
- John Glassford, CFL football player, Ottawa Rough Riders[15]
- Sydney Brown, NFL football player, Philadelphia Eagles[16]
- Chase Brown, NFL football player, Cincinnati Bengals[16]
- Vaughn Martin, NFL football player, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins[17]
- Ray Getliffe, former NHL hockey player, Montreal Canadiens[18]
- Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google executive, entrepreneur[19][17]
- Dennis Goulden, Emmy Award-winning producer
- Dianne Haskett, former mayor, London, Ontario[citation needed]
- Kate Nelligan, Oscar-nominated actress, The Prince of Tides[20]
- Walter Stewart, journalist
- Jacob Bryson, Buffalo Sabres
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Notable faculty
- Lesley Thompson, Olympic athlete
- Welwyn Wilton Katz, children's author, mathematics, 1970s
- Marion Woodman, Jungian psychologist, english, 1950s-70s
See also
References
External links
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