North Lambton Secondary School

North Lambton Secondary School
North Lambton Secondary School
Address
	15-19 George Street; Forest, Ontario, N0N 1J0; Canada
Coordinates	43°05′36″N 82°00′08″W / 43.0934°N 82.00233°W
Information
School type	High school
Founded	September 1st 1890
School board	Lambton Kent District School Board
Superintendent	Gary Girardi
Area trustee	Jane Bryce
School number	910228
Principal	Mrs Rhonda Leystra
Grades	9-12
Language	English Ojibway
Area	Lambton
Colour(s)	Maroon and Grey
Mascot	Hampton The Eagle
Team name	North Lambton Eagles
Website	nlss.lkdsb.net

North Lambton Secondary School is a Canadian public school in Forest, Ontario. It is operated by the Lambton Kent District School Board. It was originally named Forest High School and subsequently Forest District High School. Around 480 students are currently attending NLSS. Its feeder elementary schools are Plympton-Wyoming (Aberarder Central School), Watford (East Lambton and St. Peter Canisius), Grand Bend (Grand Bend Public) and Forest (St. John Fisher and Kinnwood Central) as well as Hillside School on the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation and Bosanquet Central outside Thedford.

History

Until the 1880s, students seeking to go beyond a basic elementary school education would have to board in larger centers such as Sarnia, where a district grammar school had been established in 1844. The abolition of the district grammar schools in 1871 led to the creation of collegiate institutes and high schools, the former devoted to traditional forms of education and the latter catering to male and female students in subject areas like English and the natural sciences. Students living in larger cities who planned to further their education at university were more likely to attend collegiate institutes. However, in communities such as Forest the development of high schools provided a base for those wishing to continue their studies at normal school or university.^[1]

In 1890, Forest's first permanent high school was built for $6,300 with Principal James H. Philip and four additional teachers serving approximately 160 students. Prior to this Forest had been served by a Model School. The school was gradually enlarged but suffered a catastrophic fire in 1940 at which point it was substantially rebuilt. Over the subsequent decades, enrolments increased due to the demographic increase of the "Baby Boom" and an increasing demand for higher education. The last major addition to the school was completed in the early 1970s.

With the creation of the Lambton County Board of Education in 1969, Forest District High School was renamed North Lambton Secondary School.^[2] Plans for the expansion of the school were tentatively approved in the spring of 1969 which would see $1 million spent on increasing student capacity from 750 to 1,200. Subsequent estimates indicated that $579,520 was required to make these alterations.^[3]

This photo shows the original Forest High School. After the fire of 1940, some of the original structure was incorporated into the rebuild.

In 2015 the school celebrated its 125th anniversary.

Fine arts

North Lambton has a variety of courses including drama, vocals, visual art, concert band and jazz band. The drama department puts on two major productions each year. The shows usually include a murder-mystery in the fall put on by the senior drama class, and a spring musical featuring students from the school-wide drama club.

Twice a year the music department hosts Music Night to showcase the work of the Grade 9 Band, the Senior Band, and the Jazz Band, as well as the Vocals class and club.

In the fall, the drama department hosts the Coffee House Concert where all students, North Lambton Alumni, and community members are invited to come perform musically or recite poems.

Athletic programs

Varsity athletics

OFSAA Boys A Soccer Windsor 2012: Going into the tournament unranked, North Lambton upset the number one seed and ended with a fourth-place finish.

Cross country
Track and field
Soccer - Lost in LKSSAA Finals
Basketball
Volleyball
Golf - Advanced to SWOSSAA
Badminton
Curling - OFSAA 2018/19
Tennis
Hockey

Junior varsity athletics

Volleyball
Cross country
Basketball - Girls lost in SWOSSAA Finals
Golf
Track and field

References

^ R.D. Gidney and W.P.J. Millar, 'Inventing Secondary Education: The Rise of the High School in Nineteenth-Century Ontario' (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990)
^ Jean Turnbull Elford, Canada West’s Last Frontier: A History of Lambton (Lambton County Historical Society, 1982), 24-28.
^ "Lambton board of education five-year estimate sets $20,000,000 for construction, renovation," Windsor Star, April 15, 1969 and "Board sends addition bid for study," Windsor Star, December 9, 1969

[1] R.D. Gidney and W.P.J. Millar, 'Inventing Secondary Education: The Rise of the High School in Nineteenth-Century Ontario' (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990)

[2] Jean Turnbull Elford, Canada West’s Last Frontier: A History of Lambton (Lambton County Historical Society, 1982), 24-28.

[3] "Lambton board of education five-year estimate sets $20,000,000 for construction, renovation," Windsor Star, April 15, 1969 and "Board sends addition bid for study," Windsor Star, December 9, 1969

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