Lake Central High School

Last updated

Lake Central High School
Address
Lake Central High School
8400 Wicker Avenue (High School)
8410 Wicker Avenue (Freshmen Center)

,
46373

United States
Coordinates 41°28′1″N87°28′19″W / 41.46694°N 87.47194°W / 41.46694; -87.47194
Information
Type Public high school
Established1967
School district Lake Central School Corporation
SuperintendentLarry Veracco
PrincipalErin Novak
Teaching staff147.50 (on an FTE basis) [1]
Grades9–12 [1]
Enrollment2,992 (2023-2024) [1]
Student to teacher ratio20.28 [1]
Color(s)Blue and white   
Fight song "Fighting Indians"
Athletics conference Duneland Athletic Conference
Nickname Indians
Rivals Munster High School
Crown Point High School
Merrillville High School
NewspaperComet [2]
YearbookEcho
Communities served Dyer
Schererville
St. John
Feeder schoolsClark Middle School
Grimmer Middle School
Kahler Middle School
Website lake-central.lcsc.us

Lake Central High School (LCHS) is a high school in St. John, Indiana, for students in grades nine through twelve. Its students come from St. John Township which includes the towns of St. John and Dyer (generally north of 101st Ave), almost the entire town of Schererville, [3] unincorporated areas with Crown Point postal addresses (north of 101st Ave),[ citation needed ] and the southeastern section of Griffith that is within St. John Township. [3] It is the only high school in the Lake Central School Corporation.

Contents

History

The school opened in 1967. It includes an attached freshmen wing (Freshmen Center) which opened in 1994. The current high school succeeded Dyer Central High School. The Dyer Central Building became the building for Kahler Middle School which is still part of the Lake Central School Corporation. The Dyer Central building was demolished in 1993–94 as part of renovations made to Kahler Middle school.

Between 1967 and 1983, a television station, WCAE (channel 50), operated from the Lake Central High School campus.

Some Lake Central students and faculty were the subject of an October 20, 2012, Wall Street Journal front-page article on their collective work to track down and document Indiana's battle casualties. [4] A similar story appeared during the CBS Evening News in 2013 showing teacher and students working on their Hero Project. [5]

Lake Central made the news again in 2017 when teacher Samantha Cox was videotaped using cocaine in her classroom by a student. Cox later pleaded guilty to the incident in 2018. [6]

Academics

In the 2019 U.S. News & World Report annual ranking of secondary schools, Lake Central was ranked 3,405th nationally and 56th in Indiana. [7]

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 3,310 students enrolled for the 2017-2018 school year was:

33.7% of the students qualified for free or reduced-cost lunch. For 2017-18, Lake Central was a Title I school. [1]

Renovations

Lake Central High School underwent many renovations from 2011-2016. In November 2011, voters of the Tri-Town community passed a building referendum to renovate and rebuild the school. The referendum, in which Lake Central and the district's Protsman Elementary School were renovated and rebuilt, was for $160,000,000. [8] All academic areas of the school were rebuilt or improved, followed by fine arts and many new athletic facilities to help bring the school up to modern standards. This renovation was the first major and most recent renovation to the school, which opened its doors in 1967.

Athletics

Lake Central is a member of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC), and offers its students twenty-two different school-sanctioned sports. The nickname for Lake Central's athletic teams is the "Indians."

Fall Sports

Winter Sports

Spring Sports

IHSAA State Championships (8) [9]

IHSAA State Runner-Up Titles (13) [9]

Notable people

Alumni

Staff

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lake Central High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  2. Hannah Reed (June 25, 2020). "Lake Central students rename publications to remove references to Native Americans". Chicago Tribune.
  3. 1 2 "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Lake County, IN" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. pp. 1-2 (PDF p. 2-3/3). Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  4. Phillips, Michael (October 20, 2012). "Soldiers Lost and Found: Students Rediscover the Fallen". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Co. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  5. Doane, Seth (February 21, 2013). "Indiana students learn an invaluable history lesson". CBS News . Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  6. Garrison, Steve (August 16, 2018). "Former teacher pleads guilty to possessing cocaine at Lake Central High School". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  7. "Lake Central High School - 2019 ranking". usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  8. Murzyn, Louisa (November 8, 2011). "Lake Central school referendum passes". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "IHSAA State Championships by School". ihsaa.org. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  10. "Alfred Pilarcik Obituary - Schererville, IN - The Times". The Times. Retrieved June 10, 2015.