St. Joseph's High School (Barrie)

Infobox Education in Canada
name= St. Joseph's High School


imagesize= 300x219
motto= Scienta et Bonitas
motto_translation= Knowledge and Goodness
streetaddress= 243 Cundles Road East
city= Barrie
province= Ontario
postalcode= L4M09F
phone= [phone]
fax= [phone]
email=
url= [http://smcdsb.on.ca/sjo/]
schoolnumber=
schoolboard= Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board
affiliation= Roman Catholic
superintendent=
trustee=
principal= Matt McCann
viceprincipal= Vincent Carderelli, Bill Ironside
administrator=
schooltype= Separate High School
grades= 9 to 12
language= English, programs include French, Spanish, Latin
campus=Suburban
area= Barrie
mascot= Jaguar
teamname= St. Joe's Jaguars (colloquially Jags)
colours= Maroon and Gold
founded= 1981
enrollment=
enrollment_as_of=

Saint Joseph's High School is located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The school is informally referred to as St. Joe's. The school mascot is a jaguar. The school requires uniforms.

Recent construction

In 2001, the school began construction of a new, two-story wing to accommodate the growing influx of students. The construction did not complete soon enough, however, and the school was soon faced with the problem of a ballooning student population in an inadequate facility. During the construction, overflow classes were relocated to portable classrooms, as well as bussed to a nearby "teaching annex", located on Bell Farm Road, approximately ten minutes from the school. Students were asked to share lockers to accommodate the space shortage. The school ran lunch periods in shifts throughout the day, as the cafeteria was ill-equipped to hold even half of its students. The wing opened in September 2003, complete with new music and art rooms, three new computer labs, a recording and green-screen studio, an extension on the existing cafeteria, a darkroom, as well as many new classrooms and hundreds of additional lockers.

The "Sandal Scandal"

In spring 2005, more than 200 students walked out in protest of the school administration's prohibition of certain types of sandals. Several local newspapers and radio stations reported the incident, which left more than half the current student council barred from classes because of their footwear. Students gathered around the front entrance to the school, holding signs that read "Jesus wore sandals; why can't we?" The following year, the dress code was changed to allow sandals without heel straps.

Theatre Arts program

After a lengthy and unscheduled hiatus, the St. Joe's Drama Club re-formed in 2003. The student group has since undertaken many ambitious projects, including a full-length musical, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", several variety shows, and an annual independent rock show know as "Battle of the Bands". The St. Joe's Drama Club has won several awards from the Sears Drama festival for ensemble acting, songwriting, and directing.Past productions are as follows:
* "Zephyr" (2003/2004). The script, which was written in workshops by the cast, was a nihistic exploration of the element of air. The show garnered three Awards of Excellence at the Sears Drama Festival; one for ensemble acting; one for the musical composition of actress Amy Friel; and one for the performance of young actress Kimiko Saso. [Nathalie Schramm, Maloree Kubica (Eds.), "St. Joe's People: 2004" (pp. 100-101) Barrie: St. Joseph's High School.]
* "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (2004/2005). The script was adapted into a 1920's New York setting by now-alumnus Colin Fallowfield, who also directed the production. Fallowfield won an Award of Excellence for his direction.
* "Little Shop of Horrors" (2005/2006). The school's production of the infamous Menken/Ashman musical was directed by Ashleigh Jeffrey. It featured memorable performances by Patrick Montgomery, Katie Bekking, Austin Vair, Curtis Steeves, and Laurel Dault

Music Program

St. Josephs High School is home to the St. Joes Junior and Senior bands. They include a variety of instruments from Trombones to Flutes. They perform annually at a music competition in Collingwood. They have in the past received a rank of gold at the national competition in Ottawa. They have also travelled to Chicago and to New York in the past. The St. Josephs Band offer a great musical learning experience.

Communications Technology

Since the Regional Communications Technology Contest began again in 2005, St. Joseph's High School has competed twice. St. Joseph's hosted the event in 2005, winning first place overall that year. In 2006, the school placed second. St. Joseph's did not compete the following year, as a teaching exchange undertaken by the school's Mr. M. Montgomery left the Communications Technology without a staff sponsor and organizer. Students Austin Vair and Curtis Steeves represented St. Joseph's in the competition's film category in 2005 and 2006, and won first place in their category both years.

t. Joe's rowing team

A relatively new addition to the co-curricular sports offered at St. Joseph's, the Rowing Team formed in 2005 and met with considerable positive response from the student body. Rowing is still a relatively new sport among Barrie high schools. Only four high schools in Barrie, St. Joseph's, Nouvelle Alliance, Innisdale and Barrie North, have rowing teams, with about 50 competitors between them.

In 2007 the team celebrated its first appearance in the CSSRA Finals. Trevor Neelin and Nick Sarchuk placed 5th overall against teams from across Canada and the northern United States, in the Senior Boys Heavy Pair event.

Also the first St. Joe's team to win a race at Schoolboy was the Junior Women's Four consisting of Michelle Hayano as the coxie, and Melissa McKinnon, Courtney Horne, Sarah McGarry, and Meggie Letman in seats four through one, respectively. They qualified for semi finals with the best time ever from a St. Joe's women's four team. They came in 5th out of 6 teams in the semifinals after a faulty start. [ [http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=527706&catname=Sports&classif= The Barrie Examiner - Ontario, CA ] ]

Alumni

* Notable St. Joe's alumni include supermodel Jessica Stam Fact|date=October 2007

References

1. Nathalie Schramm, Maloree Kubica (Eds.), "St. Joe's People: 2004" (pp. 100-101) Barrie: St. Joseph's High School.

2. http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=527706&catname=Sports&classif=

External links

* [http://smcdsb.on.ca/sjo/ Official school website]