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Philadelphia Central High School

Central High School of Philadelphia
WTP B26 Audrey 1.jpg
Central High School of Philadelphia Shield
Address
1700 West Olney Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19141
United States
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1836
School district The School District of Philadelphia
President Timothy J. McKenna
Teaching staff 93.54 (FTE)
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 2,227 (2014-15)
Student to teacher ratio 23.81
Color(s)         
Athletics conference Philadelphia Public League
Nickname Lancers
Newspaper The Centralizer
Television network Central Broadcast News (CBN)
Website
Central High School
Central High School (Philadelphia) is located in Philadelphia
Central High School (Philadelphia)
Central High School (Philadelphia) is located in Pennsylvania
Central High School (Philadelphia)
Central High School (Philadelphia) is located in the US
Central High School (Philadelphia)
Location 1700 West Olney Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°2′14″N 75°8′20″W / 40.03722°N 75.13889°W / 40.03722; -75.13889Coordinates: 40°2′14″N 75°8′20″W / 40.03722°N 75.13889°W / 40.03722; -75.13889
Area 5 acres (2.0 ha)
Built 1937
Architectural style Moderne
MPS Philadelphia Public Schools TR
NRHP reference # 86003267
Added to NRHP December 4, 1986

Central High School is a public high school in the Logan section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Central, the second-oldest continuously public high school in the United States (if one considers schools that were initially private, it is the twenty-seventh oldest public high school), 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. Central is regarded as one of the top public schools in the nation due to its high academic standards.This school requires exceptional grades for enrollment.

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 bachelor's degree.

Due to its authority to grant academic degrees, Central traditionally refers to the principal of the school as the "President" of Central High School. The current president is Timothy J. McKenna.

Central, rather than using a general class year to identify its classes (as in "class of 2019"), uses the class graduating number system (as in "276th graduating class" or "276"). 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 1965, semiannual graduations were replaced by annual graduations. As of the 2017–2018 school year, the current senior class is the 277th graduating class of Central High School.

Central High School of Philadelphia was founded in 1836 as "the crowning glory" of Philadelphia 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.


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