Lake Central High School

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 (north of 101st Ave), the entire town of Schererville, unincorporated Crown Point (north of 101st Ave), and the southeastern section of Griffith that is within St. John Township. It is the only high school in the Lake Central School Corporation.

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

St. John
,
Indiana
46373

United States
Coordinates41°28′1″N 87°28′19″W
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1967
School districtLake Central School Corporation
SuperintendentLarry Veracco
PrincipalSean Begley
Teaching staff149.09 (on a FTE basis)[1]
Grades9–12[1]
Enrollment3,344 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio22.43[1]
Color(s)Blue and white   
Fight song"Fighting Indians"
Athletics conferenceDuneland Athletic Conference
NicknameIndians
RivalsMunster High School
Crown Point High School
Merrillville High School
NewspaperComet[2]
YearbookEcho
Communities servedDyer
Schererville
St. John
Feeder schoolsClark Middle School
Grimmer Middle School
Kahler Middle School
Websitelake-central.lcsc.us

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.[3] A similar story appeared during the CBS Evening News in 2013 showing teacher and students working on their Hero Project.[4]

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.[5]

Academics

In the 2019 US News and World Report annual ranking of secondary schools, Lake Central was ranked 3,405th nationally and 56th in Indiana.[6]

Demographics

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

  • Native American/Alaskan - 0.5%
  • Asian - 3.4%
  • Black - 6.6%
  • Hispanic - 13.7%
  • White - 73.0%
  • Multiracial - 2.8%

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 was renovated and rebuilt, was for $160,000,000.[7] 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 different school-sanctioned sports. The nickname for Lake Central's athletic teams is the "Indians." The school has won seven IHSAA State Championships. These championships include: 1987 Boys' Swimming, 1992 Softball, 1994 Girls' Basketball, 2002 Softball, 2004 Softball, 2010 Boys' Soccer, and 2012 Baseball.[8]

Fall sports
  • Boys' Cross Country
  • Girls' Cross Country
  • Football
  • Girls' Golf
  • Boys' Soccer
  • Girls' Soccer
  • Boys' Tennis
  • Volleyball

Winter sports
  • Boys' Basketball
  • Girls' Basketball
  • Girls' Gymnastics
  • Boys' Hockey
  • Boys' Swimming
  • Girls' Swimming
  • Wrestling

Spring sports
  • Baseball
  • Boys' Golf
  • Softball
  • Boys' Track and Field
  • Girls' Track and Field
  • Girls' Tennis

Notable people

Alumni

Staff

See also

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