Aldershot School

Infobox Education in Canada
name= Aldershot School


imagesize=
motto= Veritas Nos Ducat
motto_translation= Truth Shall Lead Us
streetaddress= 50 Fairwood Place West
city= Burlington
province= Ontario
postalcode= L7T 1E5
areacode= 905
phone= 637-2383
fax= 905-333-9185
email=
url= http://ald.hdsb.ca/
schoolnumber=
schoolboard= Halton District School Board
affiliation=
superintendent=
trustee= Mary-Elizabeth Dilly
principal= Ron Maruya
viceprincipal= Marg Parsons, Gus Mihailovich
administrator=
schooltype= Public School
grades= 7 to 12
language= English, Core French, French Immersion
area=
mascot= Lion
teamname= Aldershot Lions
colours= Green and Gold
founded= 1962
enrollment= Under 725
enrollment_as_of= 2007

Aldershot School, also known as Aldershot High School, is a grade 7-12 school located in the Aldershot community in the south-western corner of Burlington, Ontario. Although the current school was constructed in the mid 1900's, the original Aldershot School was built in 1870 [ [http://images.burlington.halinet.on.ca/details.asp?ID=6902 Aldershot School on Plains Road] , Burlington Public Library.] , making for the oldest continued name of an educational institution in Halton region.

Originally a high school (grades 9-12), in 2001 grades 7 and 8 were added to the school to make use of some of its excess capacity. The school's enrollment is approximately 500 high school students and 200 elementary school students. Since 2003, the school has made dramatic improvements in student achievement and student provisions.

Aldershot Vision

The Aldershot Vision reads: "Aldershot is an inclusive environment that develops and challenges individuals to learn and live responsibly in a global community."

The school's Latin motto, "Veritas Nos Ducat" (meaning Truth Shall Lead Us), speaks to a remarkable honour system in place during the 1970s. At that time, any misplaced belonging in the school was essentially guaranteed to make its way to its rightful owner, and in some cases, take-home exams were permitted, bearing that the student not use outside information and write the school motto on his or her test. The remnant of this implicit system is in the school's also traditional, annual Honour Society listing, which notices students who have achieved distinctions in academics at a level of above 80% in every course being taken.

Rankings

Scores based on EQAO scores and literacy tests place Aldershot far and above other schools in Halton, having been ranked first for performance by the Halton District School Board's (HDSB) annual reviews. It was the top rated school in Halton according to Toronto Sun (2007), and the 13th best school in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). From 2003 onward, the school's rankings have fluctuated within the top 50 schools in the province, arriving at the 2007 rank of #16, and 2008 rank of #12 school in Ontario, according to the Fraser Institute. [ [http://www.fraserinstitute.org/reportcards/ REPORT CARDS - Measuring Performance] , The Fraser Institute.]

Halton itself has been ranked by Maclean's national crime ranking report as being the safest place to live in the GTA, and one of the top 15 in Canada. [ [http://www.haltonwatch.com/Safest%20Place%20to%20Live.htm Halton Region Ranked Safest Place to Live in GTA] , Halton Neighbourhood Watch.]

School Events

Annual events run by the school's Student Leadership Team include: Relay For Life (May), Spring Carnival (May), Beach Day (March) and more. Other regular events include the Semi-Formal Dance, Prom and Pep Rallies.

Athletics

The school's performance in athletics has been marked by numerous regional wins, despite being one of the smallest schools in Halton (In Halton D3 football Aldershot is half the size of the next smallest school, Lester B. Pearson) such as Sr. Boys Volleyball OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) favorites for second straight year 2006 & 2007.

Aldershot Lions Football

Aldershot has a inconsistent history when it comes to football. They dominated in the early 80's, but didn't see there teams come back to the top until the 2004 season. The 2004 Aldershot Football Junior Football team is considered by many to be the most dominate junior program of all time in Halton. The team average over 40 points per game and had an undefeated record of 9-0. The team was led by Lucas Van Beek at Tail Back/Quarterback, Sean Donnell at Running Back/Linebacker, Justin Springer at Full Back/Safety, Craig Townson at Linebacker, T.J. Duhamel at Quarterback/receiver and Terry Hetherington anchoring an immpressive oline. They were known across Halton for routinly running up scores against opponents, however players clame it was never on purpose. They were also the first team in Halton, regardless of division to run the spread option offence, made famous in recent years in american college football. It has been rumoured that a Aldershot player told the coach to run the option. Aldershot Offensive playcalling and design was perfect for the junior game. However, the Championship game held at Ivvor Wynne Stadium was a much different story. Aldershot was behind with 1:30 left and drove over 70 yards thanks to rushes by Sean Donnell, and 2 long passes from Lucas Van Beek to T.J. Duhamel. Lucas Van Beek went on to kick a 40 yard field goal with 20 seconds left. Although the victory was by a junior team, many students, both senior and junior aged as well as teachers said it was the greatest athletic moment in Aldershot history. That year Aldershots Senior Team also posted an impressive 6-2 record, going on to barely loose in the semi-finals. However since the success of both teams in 04', Aldershots football teams have a combined record of 4-24. For the first time since football was introduced at Aldershot, they will not be fielding a senior team. Many factors go into this, but contributing are the schools small size, and some may say the schools inability to bring in a full coaching staff. A few Aldershot players decided to play there final year at Central High School. The school will field a junior team this season, in hopes of rebuilding for the future. If success does not come this season, it could be the end of Aldershot Football all together.

Individual student achievement has been great, such as those of skaters Carla Coveart and Catherine DeVries as members of Canada's highest achieving synchronized skating team [ [http://www.isu.org/vsite/vnavsite/page/directory/0,10853,4844-128611-129919-nav-list,00.html International Skating Union] , Official Site.] , NEXXICE for the period of 2005-2008. Jason Crawford of the 2007 class was a national lacrosse team player and Canadian University Lacrosse All-Canadian, Goalie of the Year, and Freshman of the year as a 1st year player at Brock. He has since transfered to a D3 school in the U.S.. Aldershot has always fieled impressive golf teams as well.

Female sports teams at the school are often called the Aldershot 'Lady Lions'. Hockey and baseball teams are referred to as the "Aces". All other teams are reffered to as the Lions.

2008 Basketball:

Aldershot's Elementary boys basketball team finished in second place in the regular season with a record of 8-1. Aldershot then defeated Rolling Meadows in the first round of the playoffs to go to the finals against Central Elementary School. The team lost to Central though in the finals.

Aldershot Elementary Basketball Team Roster:

Point Guard-Paul Howarth,Shooting Guard-Cole Clemontino,Small Forward-Jor Christian Paler,Power Forward-Matthew ("Coop") Cooper,Centre-Dylan("Big D") Thayer

Bench:

Nick Quinn (SF,PF),Graham Kelly (C,PF),Jordan Peacock (SF,PF),Ryan Dinney (SG,SF),Usman Baig (SG,SF),Richard Males (SG),James Rybicki (SF,PF),

Coaching:

Head Coach: Nick Manjolovic,Assistant Coaches: Mike Wark, Alyssa Blakey, Omar Razek,Manager: Omar Razek

In the regular season, Paul Howarth led all scorers with an average of 13.5 ppg. Dylan Thayer led all players in rebounding with 12.4 rpg. Jor Christian Paler leads in steals with 2.6 spg.

Other Accomplishments

Aldershot has had a significant presence in music competitions both in the past and at present [ [http://ald.hdsb.ca/music.html Aldershot School Music] , Official Site] ; achieving gold, silver and bronze medals in regional and provincial competitions such as MusicFest Canada and the OBA Concert Band Festival, at both junior and senior band levels. In 2008, both Junior and Senior Bands achieved a gold level at MusicFest Canada.

Aldershot has been noted within the Halton Board and even the province of Ontario for innovative and unique initiatives. These include the ECO Studies program [ [http://ald.hdsb.ca/Eco1.html Aldershot ECO Studies] , Official Site.] - a Specialist High Skills Major program in conjunction with the Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario - and the consistent integration of both elementary and secondary students through Halton's first Link Crew program, a creative breakfast program for students, and a range of extracurricular options on par with schools of over 2000 students.

One of the two 2007-2008 HDSB Student Trustees [ [http://www.thespec.com/article/211782 School board trustees welcome student reps] TheSpec.com] , Jason Bhopalsingh, is an Aldershot student and the school's first Student Trustee elected to the Board.

Miscellaneous

The equivalent of a Student Council at Aldershot has been called the Aldershot Student Leadership Team (SLT) for decades, and is unique amongst other provincial high schools for not only having a non-traditional name, but a non-traditional structure, with no such designation as President, Prime Minister etc.

The Aldershot School mascot is a stylized golden lion, most often represented clawing upward to a stylized medieval crown. [ [http://ald.hdsb.ca/css/Contacts%20Banner.pngAldershot School Banner] , Official Site.] A traditional symbol/marking at the school is a simplified, pawprint (consisting of 4 circular shapes).

In 2001 Aldershot became a controversial 7-12 school (grades 7-12). Many older students and parents feel that the younger students are not prepared to handle the peer pressures involved in going to a high school. The move was made to prevent Aldershot from being closed down.

Notable alumni

* Actor Jim Carrey
* Actor Christopher Elliott
* Football Player Chris Schultz
* Musician Josh Bradford (of Silverstein)
* Musician Gordon Deppe (of popular 1980s band The Spoons)
* Musician Sandy Horne (of popular 1980s band The Spoons)

See also

* Halton District School Board

External links

* [http://ald.hdsb.ca/ Official Website]
* [http://www.haltondsb.on.ca/ HDSB Home Page]

References