Vaughan Road Academy
Encyclopedia
Vaughan Road Academy is a Toronto District School Board
Toronto District School Board
Toronto District School Board, also known by the acronym TDSB, is the English-language public school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada...

 International Baccalaureate school in the Oakwood-Vaughan neighbourhood of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Vaughan Road is situated at the Vaughan Road
Vaughan Road
Vaughan Road is a road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a contour collector road that is parallel to a buried creek to the north called Castle Frank Brook. Vaughan Road begins on Bathurst Street south of St. Clair Avenue West, then it becomes a north-south street, hence its address numbering...

 and Winona Drive intersection close to Oakwood Avenue and southwest of Forest Hill
Forest Hill, Toronto
Forest Hill is an affluent neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with Lawrence Park, Rosedale, and The Bridle Path, it is one of Toronto’s wealthiest neighbourhoods.-History:...

. It works in partnership with Arlington Middle School, which offers the IB Middle Years Programme
IB Middle Years Programme
The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme is an educational programme intended for students aged approximately 11 to 16 . Thus, in the United States the programme is often taught throughout the middle school years and the first two years of high school...

, J.R. Wilcox and Cedarvale Community Schools, and also offers the IB Diploma Programme
IB Diploma Programme
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a two-year educational programme for students aged 16–19that provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education, and is recognised by universities worldwide. It was developed in the early to mid-1960s in Geneva by...

 for students in grades 11 and 12. In addition to the International Baccalaureate, it also has Cooperative Education
Cooperative education
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for structured job experience...

 and INTERACT programs.

The school principal is Joe Santaluccia, a former student of the school, and the vice principals are Tim Brethour and Keith Johnson. The IB coordinator is Paul Corner and the INTERACT coordinator is Michael Alex.

International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program was adopted by Vaughan Road Academy in July 1998. When earning the IB Diploma, students also earn the Ontario Secondary School Diploma
Ontario Secondary School Diploma
The Ontario Secondary School Diploma is a diploma granted to high school graduates in the province of Ontario.-Diploma requirements:The Ontario Academic Credit system applies to students from Grades 9 through 12...

 (O.S.S.D.) which increases a student's chance of acceptance into universities worldwide greatly.

INTERACT

The INTERACT program is for students in the school who are heavily involved in the arts or athletics program outside of school. These students are located in the West end of the school in a privatized area. Due to safety regulations, the students in the program are required to where the orange uniform shirt specific to their program. Other students in less privilidged programs are resticted in these area. Interact enables students to have flexible schedules to accommodate their auditions, rehearsals, performances, competitions, etc. The program is mostly done in small group settings and whenever possible, the teachers can design assignments that incorporate the student's interest in it as well (such as a history assignment researching on the music of a certain historical era because the student is interested in music). Notable alumni of the INTERACT program include Drake
Drake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....

, Ellen Page
Ellen Page
Ellen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...

, and Mark Rendall
Mark Rendall
Mark Rendall is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for starring in the title role of the 2004 film, Childstar, as well as Mick in Season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ReGenesis. He played Bastian Bux in the TV series, Tales from the Neverending Story, and the title character in The...

. Stating 2011 the program has 29 students.

Co-operative education

Co-operative education or Co-op is a structured method of combining academic education with practical work experience. It is a four credit semester program and at Vaughan Road, it is offered in: World of Work (3) and Business English (1). The program is open to all students who are 16 years old and have completed sixteen credits. This program offers youth a chance to "try out" a career while they can still afford the chance to explore, gain and develop good work habits and experience for the future, and test their skills and knowledge learnt at school in the work place.

Empowered Student Partnership

Empowered Student Partnership or ESP was launched in October 2002. Since then 110 greater Toronto area high schools have joined, including Vaughan Road Academy. It challenges schools citywide to make a difference in their community and tackles issues through student-driven initiatives.

Being in ESP means that students along with the Toronto Police Service
Toronto Police Service
The Toronto Police Service , formerly the Metropolitan Toronto Police, is the police service for the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Canada and second largest police force in Canada after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...

, the Canadian Safe School Network, ProAction, the City of Toronto, the Toronto District School Board
Toronto District School Board
Toronto District School Board, also known by the acronym TDSB, is the English-language public school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada...

, the Toronto Catholic District School Board
Toronto Catholic District School Board
The Toronto Catholic District School Board is the publicly-funded Catholic school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, headquartered in North York. It is one of the two English boards of education in the City of Toronto, serving the former municipalities of Scarborough, North York, York, East York,...

, Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest
Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest
The Conseil scolaire Viamonde manages the French-language Public Schools in the central south-western region of Ontario. The area in which this school board operates covers 68,180 km2 of Ontario...

, and Conseil scolaire de district Catholique Centre-Sud work together to execute a safe schools initiative in their local schools and communities. Students take the steps to solve problems specific to their school with the option of utilizing programs or guest speakers, available to them through the Police Coordinator at Community Programs, Youth Services. It has made Vaughan Road Academy less susceptible to violence and encouraged students to promote safety within their school and community at large.

Athletics

Vaughan Road Academy has interscholastic and intramural teams for badminton, ball hockey, baseball, basketball, cricket, cross country running, flag football, hockey, soccer, softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

Vaughan Road competes in TDSSAA and Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations
Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations
The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada...

 (OFSAA) as the Vaughan Vipers, which is not to be confused with a similarly named junior hockey team
Vaughan Vipers
----The Vaughan Vipers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League.-History:...

 in Vaughan
Vaughan
Vaughan is a city in York Region north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Vaughan is the fastest growing municipality in Canada achieving a population growth rate of 80.2% between 1996–2006, according to Statistics Canada having nearly doubled in population since 1991. Vaughan is located in Southern...

, Ontario.

Recognition for other activities

Vaughan Road students have participated in competitions such as the annual Sears Ontario Drama Festival, where several of the top awards for 2006 went to VRA students, and the International Olympiad in Informatics
International Olympiad in Informatics
The International Olympiad in Informatics is an annual computer science competition for secondary school students. The first IOI was held in 1989 in Pravetz, Bulgaria....

, where a VRA student received a gold medal in 2005 and silver medals in 2004 and 2006.

Founding

Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute was the first High School built in York Township, the forerunner of the Borough of York
York, Ontario
York is a dissolved municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located northwest of Old Toronto, southwest of North York and east of Etobicoke, where it is bounded by the Humber River. Formerly a separate city, it was one of six municipalities that amalgamated in 1998 to form...

.

Construction of VRCI began in July 1926 and the cornerstone was laid by the Lieutenant-Governor Col. Henry Cockshutt
Henry Cockshutt
Henry Cockshutt was the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada.Born in Brantford, Ontario, a son of Ignatius Cockshutt and Elizabeth Foster, he started in the family business, Cockshutt Plow Company, in 1884, becoming treasurer in 1888, secretary-treasurer in 1891, and President in 1911...

 on September 1926. George Evans, the first principal, served from the beginning in 1926, until 1957.

In April 1927 the students moved into the school from temporary quarters in portables at Rawlinson Public School.

http://www.thestar.com/article/415469

School Motto

In Medium Quaesita Reponunt

The English Translation: They lay up in store for common use whatever they have gained

The motto suggests Vaughan Road students are in the school for the purpose of searching for and acquiring the knowledge and skills which may be used for the benefit of the community at large. The word "Quaesita" suggests effort sustained over a long period of time and also the application of the mind towards the attainment of a purpose. The words "In Medium" show that the purpose is not a selfish one, that students are aiming to prepare themselves for service to society.

School song


Colours red and blue and gold
Vaughan Road Academy we hail
For your honour we uphold
The torch and we'll never fail
Raise your glorious banners high
And forever let them fly
Cheer, cheer all cheer
Shout for all your might V.R.A.!

(Originally, the words Vaughan Road Academy and V.R.A. were Vaughan Road C.I. and V.R.C.I., respectively. In 1960-1963, the words in the song were Vaughan Collegiate and V.C.I. respectively)

School architecture

VRA, or Vaughan as it is affectionately known, from above appears as a near-isosceles right angle triangle with enclosed courtyard (in which a daycare for Vaughan students' children operates) of the same shape; the overall aerial view's reminiscence of The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...

 lending the building the moniker "The Triagon". While the school letter is predictably "V" as chosen from the Latin alphabet, the lesser-known Greek school letter, Delta, is derived from the building's shape; as in the sciences Delta denotes change.

Notable alumni

  • Aubrey Graham
    Drake (entertainer)
    Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....

     (1986-) played the character Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, now records under the mononym Drake. INTERACT
  • Melinda Shankar
    Melinda Shankar
    Melinda Shankar is a Canadian actress who is best known for playing Alli Bhandari beginning in season 8 of Degrassi: The Next Generation...

     (1992-), on the Canadian Hit Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...

    . Enrolled in INTERACT
  • Brandon Pirri
    Brandon Pirri
    Brandon Pirri , is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, currently playing in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. Pirri played junior hockey with the Streetsville Derbys of the Ontario Junior Hockey League before committing to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the ECAC Hockey conference. He...

     (1991-), Drafted 2nd round to the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks
    Chicago Blackhawks
    The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...

     in 2009. Enrolled in INTERACT
  • Keir Gilchrist
    Keir Gilchrist
    Keir David Peters Gilchrist is a Canadian actor. Gilchrist is known for playing teen Marshall Gregson on Showtime's original series United States of Tara, and for starring in the 2010 drama-comedy It's Kind of a Funny Story....

     (1992-), An actor currently on the hit show "The United States of Tara" on Showtime. Enrolled in INTERACT Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...

    . Enrolled in INTERACT
  • Cameron Ansell
    Cameron Ansell
    Cameron Ansell is a Canadian voice actor, best known for voicing Arthur in the television series of the same name, Cheng in Skyland, and Prince Lumen in Spider Riders. He is currently voicing Franklin....

     (1992-), voice actor for Arthur Read
    Arthur Read
    Arthur Timothy Read is the title character of both the book series and the PBS children's television show Arthur which was created by Marc Brown. On the show, he is eight years old, in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class, and lives in Elwood City...

    . Enrolled in INTERACT
  • Gord Ash
    Gord Ash
    Gordon Ian Ash is vice president and assistant general manager for the Milwaukee Brewers. He was the general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1995 to 2001....

     (1951-), general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays
    Toronto Blue Jays
    The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....

     from 1995 to 2001.
  • Sarah Barrable-Tishauer (1988-) - portrays "Liberty Van Zandt" on the Canadian Hit Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation
    Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...

    . Class of 2006. INTERACT
  • Sarah Bolstridge (1988-)- actress and archaeologist
  • Neve Campbell
    Neve Campbell
    Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...

     (1973-), Canadian film and television actress.
  • Stathis Kappos
    Stathis Kappos
    Efstathios Dimitrios Kappos is a Greek-Canadian football player, who plays for Agios Dimitrios.-Career:Kappos has played his entire football career in Greece, most lately serving lower league sides...

     (1979-), Greek-Canadian soccer player.
  • Michael Eben, football player Toronto Argonauts
    Toronto Argonauts
    The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

    , Professor and coach York University, teacher, UCC.
  • Marko Pavlovich (1978-), soccer player for Serbian White Eagles of CPSL and sports journalistCPSL: WHITE EAGLES.
  • Alexander Jason (1989-), actor best known for his role in the tv series Lost
    Lost (TV series)
    Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...

    .
  • Don Harron
    Don Harron
    Donald H. Harron, is a Canadian comedian, actor, director, journalist, author and composer.- Charlie Farquharson :...

     - actor, author, broadcaster.
  • William Hutt (actor)
    William Hutt (actor)
    William Ian DeWitt Hutt, was a Canadian actor of stage, television and film. Hutt's distinguished career spanned more than fifty years and won him many accolades and awards...

     (1920–2007), actor, director, Companion of the Order of Canada
    Order of Canada
    The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

     (1969), Order of Ontario
    Order of Ontario
    The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...

     (1992), First recipient of the Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award, English Stage (1992), Shakespeare Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Award for most outstanding contribution to the world of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre (1998).
  • Bob Kaplan
    Bob Kaplan
    Robert Philip "Bob" Kaplan, is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and lawyer.Born in Toronto, Ontario, Kaplan received a Bachelor of Arts in 1958 and an LL.B in 1961 from the University of Toronto...

     (1936-), former MP who was Solicitor General of Canada
    Solicitor General of Canada
    The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice...

     from 1980 to 1984.
  • Monte Kwinter
    Monte Kwinter
    Monte Kwinter is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1985, was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson from 1985 to 1990, and was re-appointed to a cabinet position when the Liberals returned to power under Dalton...

     (1931-), member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
    Legislative Assembly of Ontario
    The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

     since 1985.
  • Anne Michaels
    Anne Michaels
    -Background:Anne Michaels was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1958. Michaels attended Vaughan Road Academy and then later the University of Toronto, where she is an adjunct faculty in the Department of English. Her first book, The Weight of Oranges , a volume of poetry, was awarded the Commonwealth...

     (1958-), author, winner of the Trillium Prize, the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Beatrice and Martin Fischer Award and the Orange Prize
  • Ellen Page
    Ellen Page
    Ellen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...

     (1987-), best known for her role in the film Juno
    Juno (film)
    Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, J. K....

    and played Kitty Pryde
    Kitty Pryde
    Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 and was created by writer-artist John Byrne....

     in X-Men: The Last Stand
    X-Men: The Last Stand
    X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It was directed by Brett Ratner and stars an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones,...

    . She attended VRA in the Interact program for 2 years.
  • Alison Pill
    Alison Pill
    Alison Courtney Pill is a Canadian actress best known from her roles in Milk, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Midnight in Paris.-Life and career:...

     (1985-), actress who has appeared on TV in the drama The Book of Daniel, and nominated for a Tony Award
    Tony Award
    The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

     for her performance in The Lieutenant of Inishmore
    The Lieutenant of Inishmore
    The Lieutenant of Inishmore is a black comedy by playwright Martin McDonagh, first produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London in 2001.-Plot:...

    . INTERACT
  • Mark Rendall
    Mark Rendall
    Mark Rendall is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for starring in the title role of the 2004 film, Childstar, as well as Mick in Season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ReGenesis. He played Bastian Bux in the TV series, Tales from the Neverending Story, and the title character in The...

     (1988-), actor who was Ellen Page's classmate in the Interact program
  • Siluck Saysanasy
    Siluck Saysanasy
    Siluck Saysanasy is a Laotian-Canadian television actor.Saysanasy is best known for playing "Yick Yu", a character from the Degrassi series...

    , (1974-), Laotian-Canadian television actor best known for playing Yick Yu, a character from the Degrassi series. INTERACT
  • Dr. Arthur Leonard Schawlow
    Arthur Leonard Schawlow
    Arthur Leonard Schawlow was an American physicist. He is best remembered for his work on lasers, for which he shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Siegbahn.-Biography:...

     (1921–1999), research scientist, educator, Nobel Laureate (1981), Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Stanford University
    Stanford University
    The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

  • Al Waxman
    Al Waxman
    Albert Samuel Waxman, CM, O.Ont was a Canadian actor and director of over 1000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage...

     (1935–2001), actor, broadcaster, author, philanthropist, Order of Ontario
    Order of Ontario
    The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...

     (1996), Order of Canada
    Order of Canada
    The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

     (1997).
  • Lorrie Goldstein (1952-) columnnist, Senior Associate Editor Toronto Sun (1978–present)
  • Charles Pachter
    Charles Pachter
    -Life:Pachter got a D-minus in visual art at Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute. However, that did not prevent him from pursuing a career in visual arts.Pachter is a painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, historian, and lecturer...

     (1942-), contemporary artist, Order of Canada
    Order of Canada
    The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

    receipient

External links

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