Northern Secondary School (disambiguation)
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Northern Secondary School (often referred to as Northern Secondary, Northern, or NSS) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to Amalgamation of Toronto in 1998, it was within the Toronto Board of Education (TBE). The closest TTC subway station is Eglinton. Northern has long-standing rivalries with nearby high-school North Toronto Collegiate Institute and also with
Central Technical School Central Technical School (CTS or Central Tech) is a Canadian composite high school in Toronto, Ontario. The school is run by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB); before 1998, it was run by the Toronto Board of Education (TBE). Central Tech ...
, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute, York Mills Collegiate Institute and
Leaside High School Leaside High School (LHS) is a school of between 900 and 1000 pupils in central-east Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the corner of Eglinton and Bayview Avenues. The school was established in 1945 by the Leaside Board of Education and is located in ...
.


History

Founded in 1930, it was originally known as Northern Vocational School, until the twenty-fifth anniversary when the name was changed to Northern Technical-Commercial, which lasted for three years until the present name, Northern Secondary School, came into use because a definite district had been assigned for matriculation students. Northern was the first Ontario school to have a student council. The school is a pilot site of a Toronto Police Service program that places on-duty police officers in schools. On May 13, 2016 it was alleged that a bomb was planted on the premises and the school was shut down to investigate. No explosive devices were found. Along with all other public schools in Ontario, Northern Secondary was closed for in-person learning at various points during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Architecture

Northern Secondary is built in the
Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...
style, has a floor space of about 121,317 square feet and contains one hundred and fifteen rooms. C.E.C. Dyson was the school's original architect. Although little is known about him, he was the school board's architect from 1921 until 1949. Northern is known for the grotesques which exist on the exterior, throughout the entrance foyer and inside the auditorium. Further evidence of the Gothic Collegiate style can be found in the vaulted ceilings of the hallways, and the arched doorways and windows featured throughout the building. As stated on a plaque inside the main entrance, during the 60s a major addition was built which significantly altered the rear of the school. These renovations changed little about the original parts of the building. Although once grand, over the decades, the facility has fallen into considerable disrepair and is in need of extensive renovation.


Academics

Northern's gifted program / enriched program and its comprehensive range of elective courses, including a diverse art department, bring students in from across the city. The school runs a selective admissions process, as well as optional attendance lotteries. There is a large variety of gifted courses available at all grade levels and AP courses available at the grade 11 and 12 levels. Each year, Northern's students obtain over $1 million in university scholarships. Northern's students have won numerous national & international awards in multiple academic disciplines. These include the NASA
space settlement A space habitat (also called a space settlement, space colony, spacestead, space city, orbital habitat, orbital settlement, orbital colony, orbital stead or orbital city) is a more advanced form of living quarters than a space station or habi ...
competition, the World Debates at Oxford, England, and the Canadian Association of Physicists national contest. Northern debaters are also the current reigning OSDU provincial debate championships. The school has over 50 active clubs, associations and committees, as well as over 120 teachers, resulting in a 15 to 1
student teacher ratio A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...
. Over 25% of the school’s students have special learning needs and therefore are on an individual education plan.


Sports

The school has over 50 varsity athletic teams. Northern's
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team, the Red Knights, have won numerous titles in Toronto's high school league (including two
Metro Bowl The Metro Bowl has traditionally been the championship game for Secondary School football teams in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, from 1982 until 2012. The game was revived by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations beginning in ...
s, and the first Toronto Bowl). A number of top players have gone on to join the Canadian Football League. Numerous alumni of the school have also gone on to play in the National Hockey League, the Greek Basket League,
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
, the Israeli Premier League, the as well as the Rugby World Cup.


In popular culture

The school has been used as a location for several films including '' Carrie (2013 film)'', as well as Jarvis Collegiate Institute, and '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse'', which were filmed inside the school. The academic decathlon scene of '' Billy Madison'' was filmed in the school's auditorium. The 2009 documentary
Fight for the Planet ''Fight for the Planet'' is a 2009 Canadian film. Directed, produced, and edited by Colin Carter, Fight for the Planet is a call to action film about global warming, and the future of our society as it steps into a new environmentally conscious e ...
was also filmed at the school. Numerous commercials have also been filmed on the school's premises.


Charity

Northern has a long history of supporting national & international charities, with over 40 years of participation in the United Way fundraisers for poverty alleviation. The school has been the top fundraiser amongst Toronto high schools for a number of years.


Notable alumni and staff

Alumni of the school include one Academy Award winner, a member of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
, holders of the Order of Canada, as well as
Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...
and
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
champions, a Spitfire pilot who played a key role in an escape from a German prison camp by Allied airmen which is remembered today as "The Great Escape", and a prominent Hebrew Bible scholar. Painter
Lawren P. Harris Lawren Phillips Harris (October 10, 1910April 24, 1994) was a Canadian painter, watercolourist, draughtsman, printmaker, muralist, and art educator. He was known for the highly precise style and disciplined execution of his war art, portraits and ...
taught at then Northern Vocational.


See also

*
List of secondary schools in Ontario The following is a list of secondary schools in Ontario. Secondary education policy in the Canadian province of Ontario is governed by the Ministry of Education. Secondary education in Ontario includes Grades 9 to 12. The following list includes ...


References


External links


Northern Secondary SchoolNorthern Secondary School
at the Toronto District School Board {{Toronto High Schools Educational institutions established in 1930 High schools in Toronto Schools in the TDSB Gifted education 1930 establishments in Ontario