Unionville High School (Ontario)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Unionville High School | |
 |
|
| Address | |
| 201 Town Centre Blvd. Markham, Ontario, L3R 8G5, Canada |
|
| Information | |
| School board | York Region District School Board |
| Religious affiliation | Secular |
| Superintendent | John Havercroft |
| Area trustee | Elizabeth Richardson |
| Principal | Isabel Schnapp |
| Vice principal | George Voumvakis, Elizabeth Kennedy, Meshell Lynch-James |
| School type | Public Secondary School |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Language | English, French |
| Area | York Region |
| Mascot | Wolves |
| Team name | Unionville Wolves |
| Colours | Maroon |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Enrollment | 1920 (2007-2008) |
| Homepage | www.unionville.hs.yrdsb.edu.on.ca |
Unionville High School (commonly known as UHS) is a public high school of the York Region District School Board. It is located on Town Centre Boulevard in the community of Unionville in the town of Markham, Ontario, and is situated next to the Markham Theatre and the town's municipal offices. The school's motto is "Create and Achieve". Its mascot is the wolf. Facilities in Unionville High include: visual art rooms, cafeteria, classrooms, communication/new media lab, construction lab, design & technological lab, dance studios, family studies labs, black box theatre, guidance office, two gymnasiums, music rooms, drama rooms, outdoor fields, outdoor track, music practice rooms, resource center, science labs, staff dining room, staff workrooms, student council office, student parking facilities, washrooms and shower facilities, weight room, and the yearbook office. There are approximately 350 computers in the school, distributed into 12 computer labs. Two of the twelve are Apple Mac computer labs, used mainly for Arts York Music students for composition and technology students in order to take advantage of Apple's state of the art software to aid students with such tasks.
In 2006, Unionville High School was recognized as the best and highest academically-ranked high school in the Greater Toronto Area, according to the Fraser Institute. The same recognition was also achieved in 2007, where Unionville High School was also ranked 4th out of all Public, Catholic and Private High Schools over the entire province of Ontario.
Unionville High School is most well-known for its enriched arts program, Arts York. The school was originally built to house this regional arts program, therefore it has enhanced arts facilities. Arts York is divided into 4 categories: visual arts, music, dance, and drama. In order to gain entry to these unique programs, grade eight to eleven students are required to audition.
Contents |
[edit] History
In the mid 1970s, Superintendent Stephen Bacsalmsi created the idea of an advanced arts program. The Ontario government accepted the idea but needed to wait for a new high school to be built. When Unionville High School was under construction, the government decided it was a prime opportunity to initiate the program. The school was finished and opened to the public in 1985, with a new west wing being completed as of Spring 2002. Unionville High School also became the first school outside the United States to participate in the Apple Digital Campus Curriculum (ADCC) in 2002. In 2006, Unionville High School received a 9.4/10 rating in the Fraser Institute Report being tied with three other schools for the highest mark in Ontario.[1]
[edit] Program
[edit] Arts York
Arts York is a four year program that high school students take concurrent with the mainstream program. The high school takes students from all over the Greater Toronto Area. One famous graduate of this program is Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars movies.
[edit] Musical arts
The Musical Arts department is the biggest section of Arts York at Unionville High School. There are four classrooms for music and is situated in the east wing of the school directly adjacent to the underground link to Markham Theater. Because of the strategic placement, it is often said that the Music department is located on its own east wing.
The Arts York Music program is separated into four categories; piano, winds, strings, and vocal. Classes are divided into two categories - performance and non-performance. In performances classes, students play scales, studies, and other short pieces; in the non-performance classes, components such as music history, rudiments, and harmony are taught.
[edit] Visual arts
The Visual Arts program provides opportunities for individual creative and imaginative growth as well as development of technical skills. Students of this program will be introduced to experimental and traditional directions in drawing and painting. They will also specialize in sculpture, photography, printmaking (etching and silkscreen), ceramics, textiles and video. There will also be studies in the history of art and critical analyses of one's own work. The student's discovery of individual strengths and directions is a prime focus. For the purpose of developing the aptitudes of talented students interested in the Visual Arts, programs are being offered in all four years.
[edit] Drama arts
Drama is another strand of Arts York. This is a very popular program - competition for admission is tough. Over 300 people audition; and only 40-50 spots are available.
[edit] Dance arts
Dance arts is another popular program in Arts York. Notable graduates include figure skater Emanuel Sandhu. Students in this program are given opportunities to participate in dance programs such as Dance Access, and 'The Nutcracker' productions in December, lead by the National Ballet of Canada.
[edit] Former programs
Unionville High School formally housed other programs other than Arts York. The programs are -
- NewMedia
NewMedia was a program that ran for 3 years from 2003 to 2006. Although it wasn't as popular as its Arts York counterpart, it still was considered a respectable program within York Region. Students were introduced and studies extensively into Communication Technology and the study of Graphic Design. There was only one class per grade, approximately 30 students per class. The reasons for closure were funding problems and attendance problems. This was due to the fact that it was only publicized to students in the Markham area to join, unlike the Arts York program, which accepts students from all over York Region.
[edit] Clubs and extracurricular activities
[edit] Sport
Besides the schools arts programs, the school also has a respectable athletics program which competes in the York Region Athletic Association and OFSAA.
These are the following school along with respectable finishes in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons (ongoing):
|
|
[edit] Clubs
|
Some clubs include:
|
|
[edit] Notable alumni
- Lani Billard, actress in Ready or Not
- Steve Byers, actor in Falcon Beach
- Hayden Christensen, actor in Star Wars series, Life as a house, and Awake
- Emmanuelle Chriqui, actress in Entourage, On The Line, Snow Day, and In the Mix
- Emanuel Sandhu, figure skater
- Nathan Stephenson, actor in Radio Free Roscoe
- Cody Hodgson, ice hockey player in the OHL's Brampton Battalion, top ranked prospect for 2008 NHL Entry Draft
- Jay Bathija, Muay Thai fighter, former Canadian Super-Middleweight Champion
[edit] See also
- Arts York
- Huron Heights Secondary School
- St. Elizabeth Catholic High School
- Westmount Collegiate Institute
[edit] Sources
- This article includes extracts from the York Region District School Board web site and the Arts York course calendar of 2004 and 2005.
[edit] External links
- Unionville High School
- Arts York official website
- Comm Tech official website
- Unionville High School profile on Apple.com
- Unionville Robotics Team Website
