Type High School Enrollment 857 (2004) Mascot Pegasus Number of students 857 (2004) | Principal David Cairns Team name Legends Headquarters Richmond, Canada | |
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Website www2.sd38.bc.ca/London-Web/ | ||
Charles E. London secondary school is a former public high school in Richmond, British Columbia. Due to declining enrollment in both schools, London Secondary school and the neighbouring Steveston Secondary School were merged to form Steveston-London Secondary School (SLSS) in 2008 (on the site of the former London Secondary).
History
The school was named after Charles Edwin London (1860–1941), a pioneer farmer. It was originally built in 1965 as a primary school, and functioned thus until Maple Lane Elementary School opened in 1974. It was then rebuilt as a junior high school with a grade 8 through 10 curriculum, and re-opened in 1975. In January 1991, the school was gutted by fire, the cause of which was later ruled to be arson. The school was largely rebuilt, with the gymnasium the only part of the structure that was not damaged (thus earning the nickname "the old gym" after the schools merged in 2007, when the gym was officially named the Legends Gym). In 1995, coinciding with the reopening of the new school, the Richmond School Board amalgamated junior and senior high schools into a single entity. The first graduating class from London was therefore the class of 1997.
In the summer of 1995, the school was used as a filming location, specifically as the police station in Dad's Week Off.
The renovated London Secondary building was chosen to house the new merged school because it was much more modern than Steveston Secondary School's building. A new wing was added to the building to help accommodate the new, larger student population. The former Steveston Secondary building is being demolished for a new development as of 2015.
Historically, the school mascot was a lion, and sports teams were called the "Lords". However, it was changed to "Legends" and the mascot changed to a Pegasus in 1995 because "Lords" was thought to be sexist . Many students preferred the "Lords" mascot.