Prince of Wales Secondary School

Infobox Education in Canada
name= Prince of Wales Secondary School


imagesize= 120px
motto= Ich Dien ("I Serve")
streetaddress= 2250 Eddington Drive
city= Vancouver
province= British Columbia
postalcode= V6L 2E7
areacode= 604
phone= 713-8974
fax= 713-8973
email=
url= http://pw.vsb.bc.ca/
schoolnumber= 03939019
schoolboard= School District 39 Vancouver
superintendent=Sonia Hutson
trustee=
affiliation=
principal= Mr. Jack Bailey
viceprincipal= Mr. Russ Klein
Mr. Kevin Land
administrator=
custodian=
schooltype= Secondary school
grades= 8-12
language= English
area= Arbutus Ridge
mascot=
teamname= Walesmen
colours= Black and Gold
founded= 1920
enrollment= 1251 [http://www.vsb.bc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/F4CC82AB-7655-4240-B8BD-1C35CF67054A/0/ReadyRefcondensedversionrevisedjan.pdf Ready Reference March 2008] ]

Prince of Wales Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

chool Information

Mission statement

The Mission of Prince of Wales Secondary School is to provide a safe, supportive learning environment within a diverse school community. This community will foster self-esteem, co-operation, and mutual respect, and will allow students and staff to pursue self-discovery and excellence. The human and physical resources of the school will support the intellectual, aesthetic, social, physical, and emotional growth of all students so that they may become life-long learners and worthwhile contributors to the larger community.

History

Prince of Wales opened for classes in September 1930 at its original site, which is now Shaughnessy Elementary School. It has been at its current location since 1960.

Yearbook

Prince of Wales is well known for its yearbook, published by Herff Jones of Indiana. It has been consistently ranked by the Canadian Yearbook Review as one of the top-scoring books in Canada for the past 4 years. It has also received similar accolades from the American Scholastic Press Association, receiving 960 points out of a possible 1000 for 2006's "Rhapsody".
*"Standing Out" (2000-2001)
*"Definitions" (2001-2002)
*"Perspectives" (2002-2003)
*"Echo" (2003-2004)
*"Converge" (2004-2005)
*"Rhapsody" (2005-2006)
*"Traces" (2006-2007)
*"Forum" (2007-2008)

Programs Offered

Mini School Program

Prince of Wales Mini School seeks co-operative, creative, self-motivated and well-rounded students who have demonstrated above average academic achievement and involvement in school and community. The school aims to develop organizational skills, problem-solving techniques, and the ability to work cooperatively and independently in an academically challenging, enriched program requiring effort and self-discipline. An outdoor education component provides physical and emotional challenges, developing skills and contributing to the school community atmosphere. Students develop leadership skills through running school events and fund raising.

TREK Outdoor Education Program

The TREK program introduces each student to a variety of outdoor activities including: basic outdoor skills, minimum impact camping, hiking and backpacking, ocean kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, back-country (telemark) skiing, cross-country (Nordic) skiing, snow shelter building & winter camping, avalanche awareness, cycle touring, outdoor cooking, and map & compass navigation. It provides instruction in the safe and proper means of participating in each of these activities, to give students the basis for a lifetime of outdoor adventure.

Westside Bridge Program

This program, which was directed at students entering grade 8, transitioned the students into high school. The class consisted of 1 teacher and 1 youth/support worker, as well as a maximum capacity of 20 students. All core subjects (Math, English, Science, Social Studies) were taught during this transitional period. Students were able to focus on the tasks at hand throughout the year with individual help, thereby becoming more independent and confident in their learning experiences.

Gifted Learning Disabled Program

The GOLD program is a district program for students who have been identified as having gifted potential, and who also have a learning disability. Students in the program have at least one GOLD block as part of their regular timetable. GOLD English is also offered at the grade 8 level. The curriculum of the program includes communication skills, decision making, subject and personal support, strategies, self-awareness and self-advocacy. Individual Education Plans are prepared with all students. The IEP's allow a student to get special adaptations such as extended time for tests, reduced workloads and alternative assignments. A lot of students in GOLD have a Written Output Disorder and lack of organizational skills. However the acceptance rate is very low with an average of about 8 students per year.

Notable alumni

*Kim Campbell, both the first female Prime Minister of Canada and the first female student body president at PW.
*Deborah Grey, First Reform Party member of Parliament.
*Emmanuelle Schick Garcia, film director/writer.
*Lawrence Chou, singer and actor.
*Rafe Mair, broadcaster, political analyst.
*Nicholas Lea, actor and producer of Whistler (TV series).
*Mitch Hodge, drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 4th round (126 overall) of the 2007 MLB Draft
*John Hilton, Star Sailor, Skipper of "Sam I Am"
*Tom Ellison, the ex-teacher whose sexual relations with students in the outdoor QUEST program became a national news story [The Vancouver Sun; http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/quest/story.html?id=10c92578-f169-4e4a-9fdd-c6f2e59d05dc; published October 20, 2007; retrieved April 12, 2008]

TimeTable Information

*Prince of Wales Secondary School operates on a linear timetable on a Day1 / Day2 rotation, from September to June. Each day has four (4) blocks of 1 hour and 20 minutes of instruction in each block, except for Friday when the instructional time is one (1) hour per block. The blocks rotate four times a year and each day classes begin at 8:39 a.m. and end at 3:10 p.m. (Monday to Thursday). On Fridays, the day ends at 1:45 p.m.

Other Facts of Interest

*There is a sword in the Main Office.
*The school is in the shape of an X, the 4 wings radiating out of the auditorium. The office is in the A wing.

ee also

*Monarchy in British Columbia

References

External links

* [http://pw.vsb.bc.ca Prince of Wales Secondary School]
* [http://pw.vsb.bc.ca/library/index.htm Prince of Wales Library]
* [http://vsb.bc.ca Vancouver School Board]