H. D. Stafford Secondary School

Infobox Education in Canada
name= H D Stafford Secondary School


imagesize=
motto=
motto_translation=
streetaddress= 20441 Grade Cres
city= Langley
province= British Columbia
postalcode= V3A 4J8
areacode= 604
phone= 534-9285
fax= 534-8986
email=
url= http://www.sd35.bc.ca/hds/
schoolnumber= 3535031
schoolboard= School District 35 Langley
superintendent=
trustee=
affiliation=
principal= Frank Roberto
viceprincipal= George Kozlovic
administrator=
staff= 34
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= high school
grades= 8-12
language= English, Japanese, French, Mandarin
area=
mascot= Hawk
teamname= Skyhawk
colours= Maroon and Silver
founded=
enrollment= 669
enrollment_as_of= 16 January 2006
lastupdate= July 4, 2006

H.D. Stafford Secondary School is a public high school in Langley, British Columbia, part of School District 35 Langley. It is currently the only secondary school in Langley City (all other local secondary schools are found in the Township of Langley). In September, 2008, HD Stafford Secondary will be a Middle School.

History

H.D. Stafford Secondary School was originally opened as a Junior Secondary School, but with an expanding population was transformed into a full-fledged Secondary School.

Programs

H.D. Stafford is one of only a handful of schools in the province to be part of a pilot project for the AVID program. AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, is an in-school program which prepares students for university eligibility and success. [http://www.avidbc.com/program.html AVID BC] Approximately 40% of Stafford's teachers are trained in AVID strategies.

In 2006, H.D. Stafford's athletics expanded to include a football team. Currently, teams are running at the grade 8, junior varsity and varsity levels. [http://www.eteamz.active.com/SkyhawksFootball/ Skyhawks Football]

Drama

The school is well-known,for its drama program, and, in particular, its musical productions. Possibly, the school's best known production has been CHICAGO, directed in 2004-05 by Ron Williams. In 2005-06, a production of Disney's musical, Beauty and the Beast was performed, and most recently, for 2006-07, a rendition of Fame was performed. As of the 2006-07 school year, a new out-of-timetable class dealing exclusively with the musical, known as Theatre Company, has been available. This has allowed students to earn graduation credits for their work on the musical. The current musical in production for spring of 2008 is the comedy Once Upon a Mattress, a parody on the classic tale of The Princess and the Pea. H. D. Stafford Secondary also hosts the Fine Arts Intensive Program, allowing students to take extensive courses an ALL areas of the fine arts: dance, music, drama, and visual arts. These students graduate with a Fine Arts Diploma in addition to the provincial dogwood.

Future

On May 22, 2007, it was revealed, at a school board meeting, that the Langley School District Trustees would vote in the fall on a recommendation to transform HD Stafford from a secondary school into a middle school, serving students from Grades 6 to 8. From Grade 9 to 12, Stafford students would then attend one of the remaining secondary schools in the Langley area. As a result, the Stafford community has rallied to save its school. In an effort to save Stafford, students have exercised their right to protest. A march to LSS was held to get their point across regarding the safety of students walking to and from school along busy roads. Additionally students held a walk-out en masse which took them to the school board office. Upon their arrival, Stafford students sat in silence to protest their silenced voices.

Sadly, in October of 2007, four out of the seven trustees voted to close HD Stafford Secondary and reconfigure it into a Middle School. The process has been viewed as highly controversial leading many members of the HD Stafford community as well as community members at large to fight vigorously against the closure. For info on the fight to save Stafford see http://hdstafford.ca

Now a year later....

HDS is now know had HDSMS (HD Stafford middle school)

Many elementry schools are dangerously low population and may face to be closed.

LSS is now crazy overpopulated with not enough classes for some student. These student must take night school or online courses to complete some courses.

Further adjustments must be made to settle school district 35.