East Chicago Central High School or commonly known as Central or EC Central, is a

public high school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

in the industrial City of

East Chicago East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 26,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Centered around heavy industry, the city is home to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwa ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, located in the eastern portion of the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. All of East Chicago is in the School City of East Chicago, and this is the sole comprehensive high school of that school district.

History

The school district built East Chicago Central High School in 1986 to replace two aging high schools; East Chicago Washington and East Chicago Roosevelt High Schools. Central's first semester began in the fall of 1986.

Academics

East Chicago Central High School is ranked 293rd out of the 397 high schools of Indiana and #12,248 in National Rankings. Central had an average composite ACT score of 22 and has a 69% graduation rate (State graduation rate average is 86%). Central students' proficiency in math is 12% (Lower than the Indiana state average of 54%). Students' proficiency in reading/language arts is 33% (Lower than the Indiana state average of 62%). Central High School placed in the bottom 50% of all schools in Indiana for overall test scores (Math proficiency is bottom 50%, and reading proficiency is bottom 50%).

Athletics

The athletic director is Grayling Gordon. The Cardinals compete in the

Great Lakes Conference The Great Lakes Conference was an OHSAA athletics conference that began play with the 2015-16 school year. It disbanded following the 2023-24 school year. Members League history As part of a significant realignment in Cleveland-area high schoo ...

(GLC) as well as in the state championship series sponsored by the

Indiana High School Athletic Association The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private high schools in the U.S. state of Indiana. Member schools are classified into four classes based on enrollment, ranging ...

(IHSAA) which governs athletic activities in

. School colors are Cardinal red and Navy blue. The school sponsors interscholastic teams for both boys and girls in

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, Coed

Flag Football Flag football is a variant of gridiron football (American football or Canadian football depending on location) where, instead of Tackle (football move)#Gridiron football, tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or ...

, Coed Track, Cross Country,

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

& Diving, and

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Girls also compete in

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Boys also compete in

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. East Chicago Central athletic teams placed in the top four of their respective class in their respective sports in IHSAA sponsored state championship series: * Basketball (Boys): State Champions (1960, 1971, 2007) Semi-State Champions (1947, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1985) Regional Champions: (1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1953, 1963, 1967, 1978, 1979, 1983, 2025) Sectional Champions: (1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2024, 2025) *Basketball (Girls): State Champions (1977, 1979) * Football: Conference Champion (2016) State Champions (1945, 1946, 1949, 1955, 1957) Regional Champion: (2013 Class 4A Regional) * Wrestling: State Champions (1934) *T''itles won by East Chicago Washington High School and East Chicago Roosevelt High School are claimed by Central as a result of merging in 1986 to become East Chicago Central High School.''

John A. Baratto Athletic Center

The John A. Baratto Athletic Center is the third-largest high school basketball gym by seating capacity in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with 8,054 seats, behind Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium at Seymour High School (capacity: 8,228) and New Castle Fieldhouse at New Castle High School (capacity: 8,424), both of which are also in Indiana. The gym was dedicated in 1988 and is named in honor of legendary EC Washington basketball coach John Baratto, who went 484-170, secured 15 sectional titles, 8 regional titles, 4 semi-state crowns, and the 1960 IHSAA basketball title. Baratto was inducted into the

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...

in 1972.

Demographics

The racial makeup of students attending Central is 51%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

, 47%

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, 2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, and 1% Two or More Races. The gender makeup is 48% female and 52% male.

Notable alumni

Jermaine Couisnard Jermaine Armontae Couisnard (born November 25, 1998) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Oregon Ducks. Early life Couisnard grew up in East Chicago, Indiana and bega ...

- professional basketball player * Ángel García- professional basketball player *

Damien Jefferson Damien Jefferson (born October 3, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Karşıyaka Basket of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the Champions League. He played college basketball for the New Mexico Lobos and th ...

- Professional basketball player * Monica Maxwell - Former WNBA player, former assistant coach at

Pike High School Pike High School is a public high school on the northwest side of Indianapolis, Indiana. Athletics Conference History Varsity Sports * Baseball (boys) * Basketball (girls and boys) * Cross country (girls and boys) * Football (boys) * Golf (g ...

E'Twaun Moore E'Twaun Donte Moore (born February 25, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who is a scout for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 2011 NBA draft after playin ...

- Former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Player *

Kawann Short Kawann Arcell Short (born February 2, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers. He ...

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player, formerly played for

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

* Miguel Torres - Former

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

fighter

References

External links

East Chicago Central High School
{{authority control Public high schools in Indiana Schools in Lake County, Indiana Educational institutions established in 1986 East Chicago, Indiana 1986 establishments in Indiana