Clarkson Secondary School

Clarkson Secondary School
Committed to Excellence
Address
2524 Bromsgrove Road Mississauga, Ontario, L5J 1L8, Canada
Information
School board	Peel District School Board
Superintendent	Patricia Rosall
Area trustee	Brad MacDonald Don Stephens
Principal	Cathy Patterson
Vice Principals	James Kardash
Staff	104 teachers, 2 vice-principals, 6 secretaries, 8 janitors, 4 cafeteria staff
School type	Public high school
Grades	9-12+
Language	English, French immersion
Area	Clarkson
Campus	Urban
Mascot	Charlie The Charger (Horse)
Team name	Clarkson Chargers
Colours	Gold and Black
Newspaper	The Clarion
Founded	1970
Enrolment	1,050 (September 2007)
Feeder schools	Hillside Senior Public School, Green Glade Senior Public School, Hillcrest Public School
Recent Yearbooks	2008/2009 - Back to Basics 2007/2008 - CSI: Clarkson Secondary Investigation 2006/2007 - Spirit 2005/2006 - Energy 2004/2005 - Distorted Perspectives 2003/2004 - Breaking Traditions
Homepage	http://clarksonss.peelschools.org

Clarkson Secondary School is a high school located in the Clarkson community of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada; designated Ward 18 by the Peel District School Board. Clarkson is an average school in both population (11th, at 885 students) and age (13th, built in 1969)^[1] of the entire Peel range of 28 public secondary schools. Because of its close proximity, Clarkson's rival school is Lorne Park Secondary School.

School Design

Original Plan

Clarkson was designed like many 1970s-era schools in Ontario as part of an experimental “open-concept” design. On the ground floor, the cafeteria and auditorium are central to the design; a tech/drama wing, staff room, and gymnasiums are placed on the east side, while a classroom wing adorns the west side. These were open to the hallways, to other classrooms, separated only by pillars. Other schools using the same concepts include The Woodlands Secondary School, Bayridge Secondary School, and St. Thomas More Catholic School.

Demise of the Open-Concept Design

During the late 1970s, the design was abandoned for a more traditional approach, as the open-concept design proved deficient in many aspects: notable, the leakage of noise from other classes.^[2] The school to this day has very few proper walls in its main section, with thin, temporary walls shielding the view of other classes. The sound spill still remains a problem in many of the school’s classes.

Extracurriculars

Clarkson's sports teams include football, basketball, volleyball, ice hockey, soccer, cricket, baseball,wrestling teams; as well as many after-school groups, including the anime club, the PALS, and several drama presentations per year. A full list is here on their website. The local Studenwrites student-written drama festival is held in the school's 160-seat theatre, as is a division of the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. The school's paper is the Clarkson Clarion.

Cancer Drive

For part of the school year, the Clarkson Cancer Drive is hosted annually in late April as a fundraiser for Camp Oochigeas, a camp for cancer-stricken children. The 2006 year raised $26,500 over a period of one week from a myriad of fundraising events run by individual classrooms, as well as the "dunk tank", "milk chug", "rent-a-friend".

Lorne Park

Clarkson has been known to have a rivalry for nemesis Lorne Park. But Lorne Park always seems to win. Lorne Parks teams are always much better, and the grade average for students at Lorne Park blows away Clarkson grade average. In a sense, Clarkson kind of sucks.

Programs

• French immersion
• English as a Second Language

Notable alumni

• Brad Boyes - NHL hockey player
• Sean Jones - R&B singer
• Coach - Clarkson through and through
• Don Kerr - multi-instrumentalist and record producer
• Matt Kudu - CFL football player
• Shaun Majumder - Comedian, writer, and actor^[3]
• Camilla Scott - Actress and host of the television show The Camilla Scott Show
• Debbie Van Kiekebelt - Track & Field star and former Citytv personality
• Francis D'Souza - CityTv Personality
• Ryan Dunn - Sports Producer at Peel Regional Television

References

1. ^ Peel District School Board
2. ^ Canadian Language & Literacy Research Network - Does the Classroom Assist or Impede the Learning Process?
3. ^ NewfoundlandersAbroad - Shaun Majumder

External links

• Clarkson Secondary School website

Coordinates: 43°30′15″N 79°38′46″W / 43.504029°N 79.646131°W / 43.504029; -79.646131