Central High School is a public secondary school in the Olney section of Philadelphia. Central, the second oldest public high school in the United States, was founded in 1836 and is a four-year university preparatory magnet school. About 2,400 students attend grades 9 through 12. It consistently ranks among the top schools in the city and state, and is among the top public schools in the nation for its academic standards.^[1] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Educational institutions are often categorised along several dimensions. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Largest metro area Delaware Valley Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Millie, once mascot of the City of Brampton, is now the Brampton Arts Councils representative. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... Secondary school is a term used to describe an institution where the final stage of compulsory schooling, known as secondary education, takes place. ... A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school (usually abbreviated to preparatory school, college prep school, or prep school) is a private secondary school designed to prepare a student for higher education. ... In the U.S. system of education, a magnet school is a public school which offers innovative courses, specialized training, etc. ...

Central High School holds the distinction of being the only high school in the United States that has the authority, granted by an Act of Assembly in 1849, to confer academic degrees upon its graduates. This practice is still in effect, and graduates who meet the requirements are granted the Bachelor of Arts degree. Central also confers high school diplomas upon graduates who do not meet the requirement for a degree. A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study. ... A B.A. issued from the University of Tennessee. ... A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. ...

Central, rather than using a general class year to identify its classes (as in "class of 2009"), uses the class graduating number system (as in "267th graduating class"). This tradition started shortly after the school's founding, when it was common to have two graduating classes per year - one in January and one in June. In June of 1965, semiannual graduations were replaced by annual graduations. The current senior class is the 267th graduating class of Central High School. ^[2]

Central, due to its authority to grant academic degrees, traditionally refers to the principal of the school as the "President" of Central High School. The current president is Dr. Pavel. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

History

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Central High School was founded in 1836 as "the crowning glory" of Pennsylvania's public school system, "the worthy apex to a noble pyramid," and the first "high" school in the state.[ Because city voters only reluctantly had been convinced of the need for a high school, the curriculum was carefully and publicly geared to the needs of taxpayers. Central's founders made an especially concerted effort to avoid educating students in the manner of private academies of the day, where classical languages and literature were of paramount importance.^[1] Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Philadelphia School of Pedagogy

The Philadelphia School of Pedagogy was a program for Central graduates who wanted to become elementary school teachers. It was the male counterpart to the Philadelphia's normal school, originally the upper division of Philadelphia High School for Girls. A normal school or teachers college is an educational institution for training teachers. ... The Philadelphia High School for Girls, more commonly known as Girls’ High, is a public college preparatory high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

Once a Bachelor's degree became the standard qualification for teachers, the normal schools that were run by the State System of Higher Education became colleges (e.g. West Chester, Cheyney, Indiana, etc.). However the Philadelphia schools were run by the School District of Philadelphia, which had less money, and were located only a few blocks from Temple University. The program were merged with Temple which was already offering education courses.^{[citation needed]} A bachelors degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years. ... The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the 11th largest public university system in the United States. ... West Chester University surrounded by the rest of West Chester, Pennsylvania. ... Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, located in Cheyney, Pennsylvania was originally founded as the Institute for Colored Youth in 1837 by Richard Humphreys. ... Indiana University of Pennsylvania (or IUP) is a public university located in the borough of Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA, sixty miles northeast of Pittsburgh. ... School District of Philadelphia logo The School District of Philadelphia is a school district based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that includes all public schools in the city of Philadelphia. ... For the private Christian university in Tennessee, see Tennessee Temple University. ...

The School Song

The following is the school song of Central High School- Words by Horace M. Shell, 1907 and Francis A. Wade, 1907, Music by John L. Waldman, 1907, Arranged by Francis Murphy (note: Second to the last line of the chorus was revised during the 1995 - 1996 school year to substitute the words "we all" for "thy sons"). Students and alumni are known to stomp their feet twice after the first and fifth lines of the chorus. Alumni and Alumnae all over the world are known to sing the school song with pride, to complete strangers who have all once attended CHS.

Let others sing of college days,
Their Alma Mater true,
But when we raise our voices,
'Tis only High, for you.
We'll ne'er forget those days gone by,
Those glorious days of old,
When oft we sang the praises of
The Crimson and the Gold.

Second verse to be sung by alumni only

And when at last we leave behind
Thy shelt'ring portals wide,
Thy honor still we'll cherish,
What e'er may us betide.
And when we congregate again
With tuneful voice and strong,
With joyful hearts once more we'll sing
That same old glorious song.

CHORUS

Athletics and Extracurriculars

Central offers its students over 75 extracurricular programs including an internationally acclaimed Orchestra. It also has an accomplished coeducational sports program offering every Public League interscholastic sport. The Central Lancers have won 70 Public League Championships in the last decade, making it the city athletic powerhouse. Those championships include marquee sports such as soccer, basketball, baseball, bowling, softball, tennis, golf and track and field. Central is known throughout the east coast for its dominant track and field program. Central's cross country, indoor, and outdoor track athletes have set numerous city and state records and have gone onto collegiate and Olympic careers. The 2005 Central 4x800 team of Chris Bowser, Mitchell Stroh, Thurman Sanders, and Patrick Carr claimed the first state medal in PIAA competition for the Philadelphia Public League. From 2001-2005, the Central Co-Ed Tennis team dominated the Public League winning four consecutive titles while losing only two regular season matches and earned one of the Public League's first PIAA playoff berths. Also in 2005, Central won the Philadelphia Public League Boys Basketball Championship for the first time since 1932. In 2006, the Central Baseball team won the Public League Championship and advanced to the semi-finals of the PIAA state tournament. As of April, 2007, the Girls Basketball team has won a record 93 straight games in Public League competition, and six consecutive Public League Championships.

Notably, Central's football team plays a yearly game against longtime rivals Northeast High School. The Thanksgiving football game is the oldest public high school football rivalries in the United States. A list of long-standing High School Football Rivalries: Categories: | | | ...

Central puts a great emphasis on producing not only college graduates and future professionals, but also strong members of the community. It is one of the few public high schools that has a yearly community service requirement that needs to be fulfilled before graduation. 50 hours of community service, recently increased from 30 hours, needs to be completed and verified by academic personnel before the end of each school year. This program was implemented as an alternative to extending the school day in the early 1990s.

The music department, comprising an orchestra and choir, is world-renowned, having travelled to such locales as Israel, London, Quebec, and Austria. During the summer of 2007, they performed in the city of Budapest, Hungary, at the invitation of its mayor. Central is one of the few schools that give academic credit for participation in the orchestra. It was scheduled to be the first American High School group to travel to China, when the SARS outbreak occurred and caused the trip to be postponed. The department was awarded "Grammy Signature School" status in 2000. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the Canadian province. ... For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation). ... Sars may refer to any of the following: Severe acute respiratory syndrome, commonly abbreviated as SARS Michael Sars, a Norwegian biologist, father of Georg Sars Georg Sars, a Norwegian biologist, son of Michael Sars Special Administrative Regions, commonly abbreviated as SARs Sars, Perm Krai, an urban settlement in Perm Krai...

The Football Classic

Central High School has held a rivalry with Northeast High School and the high point of this rivalry is during the annual Thanksgiving game. In 1947, a fine, wooden horse carved by Spurgeon Smith, a 1948 Northeast student, became the trophy held annually by the winner. Currently (2007), the record of wins and loses for Central High School is: W-49, L-45,T-9. The last game played between these two schools was in 2006 with Northeast winning.

Presidents of Central High School

• Alexander Dallas Bache, LL.D. - 1839-1842
• John Seely Hart, LL.D. - 1842-1858
• Nicholas Harper Maquire, A.M. - 1858-1866
• George Inman Riché, A.M. - 1866-1886
• Franklin Taylor, M.D. - 1886-1888
• Henry Clark Johnson, A.M., LL.B. - 1888-1893
• Robert Ellis Thompson, A.M., Ph.D., D.D., LL.D., - 1894-1920
• John Louis Haney, A.M., Ph.D., LL.D. - 1920-1943
• William H. Cornog, A.M., L.H.D., Ph.D., - 1943-1955
• Elmer Field, B.S., M.S., Ed.D. - 1955-1962
• William H. Gregory, B.S., Ed.M. - 1962-1969
• Howard Carlisle, B.S., A.M., Ed.D. - 1969-1983
• Sheldon S. Pavel, A.B., Ed.M, Ed.D. - 1984-present

Alexander Dallas Bache (July 19, 1806 – February 17, 1867), American physicist, great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was born in Philadelphia. ...

Standard dress code

Central students are required to wear solid-colored clothing ^[3], similar to that of Julia R. Masterman School. Unlike in almost all other Philadelphia schools, the dress code has never been enforced.^{[citation needed]} The Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School is a secondary school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

Media Coverage

Central has been covered extensively in the media, both news and entertainment wise. As of March 28th, 2007, MTV is in the process of filming an episode of Made (TV series) set at the high school. Made is a Daytime Emmy Award-winning self-improvement reality television series broadcast on MTV. The series follows teens who wish to be made into singers, athletes, dancers, skateboarders, etc. ...

Notable alumni

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Salk Institute, La Jolla, California Louis Isadore Kahn (February 20, 1901/1902 – March 17, 1974) was a world-renowned architect who practiced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... Sam Katz (born 1950) is a perennial mayoral candidate in Philadelphia. ... Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. ... Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1886 – June 9, 1954) was an African American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. ... Barry Adrian Reese (born July 7, 1982), better known by his stage name Cassidy, is an American rapper. ... Jerome Lowenthal is a professor of piano at the Juilliard School in New York, where he was also chair of the piano department. ... The Juilliard School is one of the worlds premiere performing arts conservatory located in New York City, it is informally identified as simply Juilliard, and trains in the fields of Dance, Drama, and Music. ... John Robert Marzano (born February 14, 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a Major League Baseball player from 1987 to 1998 for the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners. ... Jeffrey Milarsky Jeffrey Milarsky is one of the leading conductors of contemporary music in New York City. ... Louis Joel Mordell (28 January 1888 - 12 March 1972) was a British mathematician, known for pioneering research in number theory. ... Number theory is the branch of pure mathematics concerned with the properties of numbers in general, and integers in particular, as well as the wider classes of problems that arise from their study. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement. ... Former Chief Justice Robert N.C. Nix, Jr. ... Categories: People stubs | 1850 births | 1904 deaths | Governors of Pennsylvania ... Ramon L. Posel, art-cinema proponent and real estate developer, born August 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died June 23, 2005, in New York City, from pancreatic cancer. ... Arnold Roth (born February 25, 1929, in Philadelphia, PA) is an American cartoonist. ... . This is a list of news anchors for WCAU-TV, which is owned by NBC and is located in Philadelphia. ... Julie Stevens is an American actress. ... Frank Stockton, from an illustration in the 1903 publication of The Captains Toll-Gate // Frank R. Stockton (April 5, 1834 - April 20, 1902), was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative childrens fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades... Charles Stone III is a film director, known for films such as Drumline starring Nick Cannon and Mr. ... Teller (born Raymond Joseph Teller) February 14, 1948) is an American magician, best known as the smaller (59/1. ... Penn & Teller at the 1988 Emmy Awards Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. ... Howard Martin Temin (1934 - 1994) was a U.S. geneticist. ... Arthur Tracy (25 June 1899 - 5 October 1997) [1] was a popular American singer, known world-wide as The Street Singer. Tracys fame was at its height throughout the 1930s and early 1940s thanks to his constant performances on radio, theatre, film, and records. ... John Wallowitch is an American composer, songwriter and cabaret performer. ... Dr. Andrew Weil (born December 19, 1941) is a world-famous United States physician. ... Alexander Woollcott, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was a critic and commentator for The New Yorker magazine, and a member of the Algonquin Round Table. ... For other uses, see New Yorker. ... The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits that met from 1919 until about 1929, though its legacy endured long afterward. ... Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 - June 19, 1966) was a popular United States entertainer, born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

External links

Philadelphia Portal

• The Central High School Web Site
• The Central High Alumni Site

Liberty Bell; public domain. ...

References