Joliet Central High School

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Joliet Central Campus, Jefferson St Exit

Joliet Central High School is located at 201 E. Jefferson St, in Joliet, Illinois, USA. Built in 1901, the original building is noted for its marble floors and staircases and its castle-like limestone exterior architecture. The building has been added on to 5 times since it was build in 1901 and it served as the original home to Joliet Junior College. The school's balconied auditorium is the largest indoor auditorium in Joliet, including that of the downtown Rialto Square Theatre, and its large gymnasium is capable of holding over 2500 people during yearly graduation ceremonies. Central is part of Joliet Township High Schools, along with Joliet West and Joliet East (now defunct).

1 Building
2 Education
3 Notable alumni
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Building

The school itself is four stories tall, two city blocks long, and includes four separate buildings. The campus underwent a moderate expansion during 2005 when the old shop building was knocked down and a new building was erected in its place. A catwalk now connects the main building to the T&I building and allows students to cross unencumbered during inclement weather. The facilities also include a daycare center (on the ground floor of the Little Theater building), a planetarium, 6 tennis courts, a soccer field, 4 baseball fields, 1/16 mile indoor track, and a 1/4 mile track across the street to the east.

Steelman at the 1933-4 World Fair in Chicago

There is an historical display on the second floor near the South Entrance that is maintained by the Joliet Central Historical Society. Many archived items are kept in a vault, but the display includes the original Steelman sculpture and conceptual models of it from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. The Steelman was sculpted by Louise Lentz Woodruff and is positioned with its hands behind a male and female, symbolizing technology advancing man. It is surrounded by the original relief panels representing the basic sciences: astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, medicine, and geology. It has long been considered good luck to rub the right knee of the male before any test or sporting events, therefore, the knee has been worn away and reconstituted over the years.

In 1994, Central and West combined athletic teams due to a lack of funding. The Steelman became the mascot of both schools. Joliet Township is a member of the IHSA SICA West conference and its arch-rivals for the past 10 years have been Joliet Catholic Academy and Providence Catholic High School.

[edit] Education

There are now three levels of study at Central (in order of conceptual difficulty): Honors, A-level, Regular, and Tech Prep.

The Honors curriculum is concentrated for students who grasp concepts more readily. The difficulty is reflected in the AP level classes and the pace at which materials are taught. The grade weighting of 1.4 attempts to reflect the challenges with which Honors students are presented.
A-level classes concentrate on above-average students, but are taught at a slightly slower pace than the honors curriculum to allow more time on each subject. The grade weight for these courses is 1.2.
Regular level classes are weighted 1.0 and spend still more time on material and provide more homework to students to help them understand difficult concepts.

The student grade point average is based on a 4.0 scale and weighted grades are awarded for higher curriculum classes, with 5.6 being the highest GPA obtainable by an honors student. The student with the highest GPA in recent history is Crystal Lovell, class of 1996, who graduated as valedictorian with a 5.51 GPA^[1]. Central separates freshmen from the rest of the student body by primarily locating their classes in a localized area within the main building and giving them an earlier start. This provides an environment that is more supportive of new students and allows more freedom and time to find classrooms in a building of this size.