Centennial High School is a public high school located on the northwest side of Columbus, Ohio, in the United States. It is a part of Columbus City Schools. The school opened in 1976, initially only housing new students in 10th grade. The smaller start allowed the school to get set up properly, and was designed as such so it wouldn't cause inconvenience to upperclassmen who were attending other high schools but lived in Centennial's newly formed attendance area.HistoryAt the time the school was built, the surrounding area of Northwest Columbus was experiencing tremendous growth. The need for a new school became apparent as nearby Whetstone High School had become very crowded. A considerable portion of the land around the school was undeveloped at the time of opening, but was rapidly built up in the ensuing years. A rivalry has developed between Centennial and Whetstone due to the splitting of Whetstone's district and the fact that many students in both buildings attended lower grades together. As the building opened in the year of the United States Bicentennial, the building was so named as a patriotic gesture, as was Independence High School, which opened at the same time.At the time of the school's construction, trends in K-12 schooling were moving towards more non-traditional classroom setups. This manifested itself in the architecture and design of the building. When the school opened, there were no walls between almost all of the classrooms (save for the art, music, and science rooms). Rather, movable dividers were employed in a setup similar to what might be found in an office with cubicles. Additionally, both floors of the building were laid out with wings centered around a common area, rather than long and straight corridors. All of these elements were designed to increase interaction between classrooms and promote learning. Additionally, the lockers were formerly painted a bright orange color, which was thought to have a positive psychological effect for learning.
