Bishop Strachan School
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| Bishop Strachan School | |
| Address | |
| 298 Lonsdale Road Toronto, Ontario, M4V 1X2, Canada |
|
| Information | |
| Religious affiliation | Anglican |
| Principal | Kim Gordon |
| School type | Private |
| Grades | JK-12 |
| Language | English |
| Motto | In Cruce Vinco (In the cross I conquer) |
| Mascot | Bobcat |
| Colours | Burgundy and Grey |
| Founded | 1867 |
| Enrollment | 850 |
| Homepage | http://www.bss.on.ca/ |
The Bishop Strachan School (BSS), (IPA: [strɔ:n]) named after Anglican Bishop John Strachan, is the oldest day and boarding school for girls in Canada. Located in Toronto (), it was founded by John Langtry in 1867 as an institution different from most other schools for young women at that time. It was, for one, not Catholic, which was attractive for the many Anglican families in Canada. It was also not a very pricey finishing school, making it affordable enough for middle- and upper-middle-class families. From its beginning, the school educated young women to become accomplished in academics, offering university entrance subjects such as Latin even before most universities admitted women.
The school has about 850 day and boarding students; girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 (approximately ages 4-17). The boarding program start in grade 7, and boarders come from all over Canada and the world. While the school is still Anglican in tradition, students are from all faiths.
Like many other private schools throughout the Commonwealth, BSS's traditions are based on similar schools in Britain. Senior student leaders are called prefects, the students must wear uniforms, and each student is a member of a house.
BSS offers Advanced Placement courses in about 17 subjects and is a top-ranked school in terms of AP success.
The current Head of School is Kim Gordon.
In 2004, the school welcomed the addition of a new Junior School wing, along with an arts centre and new athletic facilities. The construction cost $16 million. A new student centre is near completion.
Contents |
[edit] Student Life
Students gather in the Chapel every morning for announcements, skits, and a short religious service. About once a month, the prefects hold an Assembly in the gym in place of Chapel. Until the 1970s, students had to wear chapel veils.
Houses: Students are divided into one of twelve day houses. The houses are named after prominent members of the school community, including teachers and leaders in various capacities.
The houses are:
Acres: Black and white (penguin)
Dupont: Purple (purple monkey)
Grier: Red (devil)
Griffith: Brown (moose)
Lamont: Silver and gold (unicorn)
Langtry: Yellow (Big Bird)
Macnaughton: Pink (the Pink Panther)
Marling: Navy/Colbalt blue (Mickey Mouse)
Nation: Pale Blue (hippo)
Pyper: Plaid (dragon)
Rosseter: Orange (tiger)
Walsh: Green (turtle)
These houses are informally paired with UCC "brother" houses.
The present house system was created in the early 1970s to replace the old "team" system of single Greek letters. Eight houses existed until 2002 when an additional two were added (Lamont and Dupont). In 2004, another two houses (Pyper and Griffith) were added for a total of twelve. Each house has a mascot and a representative colour. The houses compete for the Cadbury Bell Cup, which is awarded to the house whose members show the most spirit and involvement in school life.
There are also two boarding houses to which boarders belong in addition to their 'day house': St. Monica's and St. Hilda's. Throughout the year, there are various house competitions between the boarding houses.
[edit] Academics
BSS offers Advanced Placement courses in: European History, American History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Human Geography, Latin, Spanish Language, French Language, English Language + Composition, English Literature, Calculus, Statistics, Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science.
BSS is well-known for its students' success on AP exams, and many BSS students are AP Canada National Scholars.
[edit] Arts
BSS has extensive programmes for dance, music, visual arts, dramatic arts and media. Dance: More than 100 students participate in the dance programme. All students of dance perform at the Dance Show, held in May, and many participate in the school musical.
Music: Some ensembles include: Senior Band, Intermediate Band, Stage Band, Intermediate Stage Band and Brass Ensemble for wind players; Senior Strings and Intermediate Strings; Senior Choir and Intermediate Choir. The Senior Band ensembles have participated and achieved gold standard at Kiwanis and MusicFest.
Dramatic Arts: BSS stages a classical production and a musical annually with UCC. Recent classical productions include Macbeth (2007), King Lear (2006), Medea (2005), Hamlet (2004) and Antigone (2003). Recent musical productions include Sweet Charity (2007), Footloose (2006), West Side Story (2005), Blood Brothers (2004), Working (2003) and Cabaret (2002). There are many performance nights throughout the year, showcasing girls of all ages. Canadian actress Sarah Polley has given workshops at BSS.
[edit] Athletics
BSS is represented by teams of various age levels in the following sports:
Archery
Badminton
Basketball
Cross country running
Cross country skiing
Curling
Downhill Skiing
Field hockey
Gymnastics
Ice hockey
Soccer
Softball
Swimming
Track and Field
Tennis
Volleyball
Many BSS teams compete at OFSAA.
Club teams:
Fencing
Rugby
[edit] Athletic Accomplishments
The Archery team won Gold in the Girl's Olympic category at OFSAA for two consecutive years (2005[1] , 2006[2]).
[edit] Interesting facts
- The school is represented in John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany where the book's narrator is a teacher.
- While BSS does many of its activities with the all boys' Upper Canada College (UCC), the boys' school is not BSS's historical brother school. That would be Trinity College School in Port Hope, which became co-ed in the early 1990s.
- The school's current slogan is "Girls Can Do Anything."
- BSS has an intense rivalry with Havergal College. On "Hockey Night" each year, the varsity hockey teams of each school face off for the Foster Hewitt Trophy. This year, BSS won the match and took home the Trophy.
- The 2002 Disney Channel original movie "Get a Clue" starring Lindsay Lohan was filmed at this school.
- Each year, BSS participates in a "Spirit Week" where the grades compete against each other by showing their spirit. Usually, the Graduating Class wins.
- BSS Graduates are called "Old Girls"
- The Grade 12 class is affectionately known as the "Grads"
[edit] See also
- Upper Canada College
- Branksome Hall School
- St. Andrew's College
- St. Clement's School
- De La Salle College (Toronto)
- Havergal College
- St. Michael's Choir School
- Crescent School
- St. Michael's College School
- Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School
- Royal St. George's College
- Trafalgar Castle School
- CISAA
- The York School
- BSS Prefects
[edit] External links
- http://www.bss.on.ca
- The Bishop Strachan School – Private College Preparatory Boarding & Day School article by Bunting and Lyon Inc.
