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London South Collegiate Institute

Field	Value
name	London South Collegiate Institute
image	South secondary school.jpg
image_size	300px
caption	The front entrance to South facing Tecumseh Ave.
motto	Virtus Repulsae Nescia Sordidae
motto_translation	Courage will never know ignominious defeat.
city	London
province	Ontario
postcode	N6C 1T4
country	Canada
schooltype	Public
established	1922
principal	Richard Tamminga
colours	Garnet and Grey
newspaper	The South Star (2023-)
The Oracle (1930's, 1970's-1980's)
The Confederate (1958‐69, 1971)
The South Wind (1940's)
mascot	Lion
address	371 Tecumseh Avenue East, London, ON N6C 1T4
coordinates
enrollment	780+
enrollment_as_of	2022-2023
free_label2	Athletics
free_text2	25 Interscholastic teams
url
lastupdate	August 23, 2022
district	Thames Valley District School Board

The Oracle (1930's, 1970's-1980's) The Confederate (1958‐69, 1971) The South Wind (1940's)

The west side of South facing Belgrave Ave. in January 2021

London South Collegiate Institute (also known as S.C.I. or South) is a public high school in London, Ontario, Canada.

South is administered by the Thames Valley District School Board. Approximately 800 students attend the school from grades 9-12. It offers a co-op program and a program for gifted students called the Academy Program.

The school colours are garnet and grey and the school mascot is the lion. South is known for its academic rigour, sports teams, and the strength of its arts program, which includes drama, visual arts, music, and dance.

The South Collegiate Alumni Association, established in 1999, organizes the school's reunions and alumni events, including annual homecoming events since 2007. South is one of the only high schools in Canada to host a homecoming with football games and a tailgate party.

History

The school first opened in 1922, at the corner of Askin Street and Wharncliffe Road South, where Victoria Public School now lies, with 290 students and 10 teachers. The growing school moved to its current location on Tecumseh Avenue in June 1928, six years later.

School pride was a focus right from the early years. According to the school's website, early students recited a daily pledge: "We're here to win the day for the garnet and grey, and to London South we pledge allegiance now." The school's Latin motto, virtus repulsae nescia sordidae, means "courage will never know ignominious defeat."

The school was formerly named “South Secondary School” for many decades, but regained its original name in 2009.

From May 24 to 26, 2013, South celebrated its 85th year at the Tecumseh Avenue location with a reunion. It commemorated the 100th anniversary of its original founding on May 26, 2023.

Lightning strike

On the evening of June 24, 2025, during an intense thunderstorm occurring during the graduation ceremony of a local elementary school hosted at South's auditorium, lightning struck the school's chimney, forcing the evacuation and relocation of the ceremony and the closure of the school the next day, on what would be students' final scheduled day of exams for the 2024-25 school year. No injuries occurred, but the strike caused the chimney to partially collapse, and a portion of the chimney fell through the roof onto the third floor. The incident, along with video of the strike captured by a witness in a car just outside the building, made national news.

Notable alumni

Dan Brodbeck, record producer
Chuck Dalton, Olympic basketball player
Brett Dier, actor
Chris Doty, filmmaker, journalist
Robert Ford, diplomat, poet
Alex Pierzchalski, CFL football player, Saskatchewan Roughriders
John Glassford, CFL football player, Ottawa Rough Riders
Sydney Brown, NFL football player, Philadelphia Eagles
Chase Brown, NFL football player, Cincinnati Bengals
Vaughn Martin, NFL football player, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins
Ray Getliffe, former NHL hockey player, Montreal Canadiens
Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google executive, entrepreneur
Dennis Goulden, Emmy Award-winning producer
Dianne Haskett, former mayor, London, Ontario
Kate Nelligan, Oscar-nominated actress, The Prince of Tides
Walter Stewart, journalist
Jacob Bryson, Buffalo Sabres

Notable faculty

Lesley Thompson, Olympic athlete
Welwyn Wilton Katz, children's author, mathematics, 1970s
Marion Woodman, Jungian psychologist, english, 1950s-70s

References

(14 November 2023). "About Us".
[http://southalumni.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lions-Pride-Spring-2024-Newsletter.pdf South Collegiate Alumni Association Spring 2024 Lions' Pride]
[http://southalumni.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Spring-2006-Newsletter.pdf South Secondary School Alumni Association Spring 2006 Lions' Pride]
[http://southalumni.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Spring-2012-Newsletter.pdf South Collegiate Alumni Association Spring 2012 Lions' Pride]
"About – South Collegiate Alumni Association".
"South Alumni Newsletter Spring 2013".
[http://www.south1928.ca Home. South Collegiate Alumni Association]. South1928.ca. Retrieved on 2013-10-05.
"London South Collegiate Institute 100th Anniversary Update".
Irvine, Sean. (2025-06-25). "‘I didn’t realize it looks like fire when it hits’: Old South residents recount lightning strike that damaged South C.I.".
CTV News. (2025-06-25). ["Lightning strike disrupts graduation ceremony at London, Ont. school"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohKsXHsyS44 ya).
"LFP Columnists | The London Free Press".
"The 85-year-old former Olympian mastered basketball, football, curling | The London Free Press".
"South Alumni Newsletter Fall 2010".
Ruud, Charles A.. (2009). "The constant diplomat: Robert Ford in Moscow". McGill-Queen's Press.
(Fall 2011). "John Glassford ('72) - John Glassford ('72) - All-Star Football Alumnus Star Football Alumnus Star Football Alumnus". South Collegiate Alumni Association.
Paparella, Nick. (2025-02-08). "Historic weekend for Londoner competing in Super Bowl".
"Hockey Hall of Fame - Stanley Cup Journals: 21".
Rosenbush, Steve. (2013-09-27). "How Advanced Denial of Service Is Raising Stakes in Cybercrime". Wall Street Journal.
"South Alumni Newsletter Fall 2009".
"Lion's Pride Winter 2003".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

high-schools-in-london,-ontario educational-institutions-established-in-1922 1922-establishments-in-ontario

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