Aldershot School is a grade 7–12 school located in
Burlington, Ontario
Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...
. Although the current school building was constructed in 1959-1960, the original Aldershot School was built in 1870, making the name the oldest in continual use for an educational institution in
Halton region
The Regional Municipality of Halton, or Halton Region, is a regional municipality in Ontario, Canada, located in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario. It comprises the city of Burlington and the towns of Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hil ...
.
Originally a high school (grades 9-13, later cut back to grade 12), grades 7 and 8 were added in 2001 to make use of spare capacity. The school's enrollment is 464 students as of 2017.
The school's
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
motto, ''Veritas Nos Ducat'' (meaning "Truth Shall Lead Us"), speaks to a remarkable
honour system
An honor system or honesty system is a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty. Something that operates under the rule of the "honor system" is usually something that does not have strictly enfo ...
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
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Sc ...
listing, which notices students who have achieved distinctions in academics at a level of above 80% in every course taken.
Rankings
Scores based on
EQAO
The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario in Canada. It was legislated into creation in 1996 in response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Learning in February 1995.
EQ ...
scores and
literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
tests place Aldershot far and above other schools in
Halton, having been ranked first for performance by the
Halton District School Board
The Halton District School Board serves public school students throughout Halton Region, including the municipalities of Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville. Its administration area is to the southwest of the city of Toronto. In 2006-20 ...
's (HDSB) annual reviews. It was the top rated school in Halton according to the ''Toronto Sun'' (2007), and the 13th best school in the
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...
. From 2003 onward, the school's rankings have fluctuated within the top 50 schools in the province, arriving at the 2007 rank of No. 16, and 2008 rank of No. 12 school in Ontario, according to the Fraser Institute.
School events
Annual events run by the school's Student Leadership Team include
Terry Fox Run
The Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held around the world to raise money for cancer research
in commemoration of Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope.
The event was founded in 1981 by Isadore Shar ...
(September),
Relay For Life (May), Spring Carnival (May), and Beach Day (March). Other regular events include
pep rallies
A pep rally or pep assembly is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school, and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the team. It ...
.
In recent years, fewer events have been organized by the student council (formerly the SLT) as student interest has declined.
There are also many "school spirit" days throughout the year, during which students may partake in an activity to show their school spirit (e.g. Jersey Day, Ugly Sweater Day, "Fancy" Day).
The school's administration has not organized the annual senior prom since 2010, however, since then, the graduating class has taken it upon themselves to organize the event.
Athletics
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 referred to as the Lions.
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 senior boys' volleyball OFSAA (
Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations
The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada. OFSAA is the second largest high school ath ...
) favorites in 2006 and 2007.
Music
The school has a Senior Concert Band (grades 9-12), Junior Concert Band (grades 7-9), Choir (grades 7-12), Jazz Band, and occasionally a String Ensemble. The groups all play at an annual Music Night and sometimes at other events or festivals.
Aldershot has regularly participated in music competitions in regional and provincial competitions like
MusicFest Canada
MusicFest Canada, originally established as the Canadian Stage Band Festival (CSBF), is a national educational music festival in Canada. It was founded in 1972 by Robert Richmond (the founding president), Gary Wadsworth, and Paul Miner. The CS ...
and the OBA Concert Band Festival with both the Junior and Senior bands achieving gold, silver and bronze medals several times.
.
Other accomplishments
Aldershot is home to the ECO Studies program - a Specialist High Skills Major program in conjunction with the
Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario
Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is headquartered in Burlington owning extensive environmental protection areas, historic sites and culturally relevant gardens in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the major tourist attractions between Niagara F ...
, which allows students to earn a specialized diploma. The ECO Studies program also runs an environmental leadership program for elementary students called "ECO Rangers", which has received exceptionally positive reviews from the elementary schools who have participated.
Aldershot is known for having a very strong
Link Crew Link Crew is a North American student leadership program. Its focus is on making select individuals from the Junior and Senior classes, known as "Link Leaders," into mentors for freshmen and new students.
Link Crew operates in 3,705 schools in 47 U ...
program whose mission is stated as "creating positive change by building positive relationships". Aldershot is also noted for having a creative breakfast program for students, and a range of extracurricular options on par with schools of over 2000 students.
Miscellaneous
The Aldershot School
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
is a stylized golden
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
, most often represented clawing upward to a stylized medieval crown. A traditional symbol/marking at the school is a simplified
pawprint
Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. Th ...
(consisting of four circular shapes).
The first Student Trustee to come from Aldershot was elected to the HDSB as 2007-2008 Student Trustee Jason Karmody.
In 2019, Aldershot began an I-STEM program in order to attract more students to the school.
Notable alumni
*
Melanie Booth
Melanie Lynn Booth (born August 24, 1984) is a Canadian retired soccer player. She last played for Sky Blue FC in the National Women's Soccer League and for the Canada women's national soccer team.
Early life
Booth was born in Burlington, O ...
, Canadian Women's Soccer Team player
*
Josh Bradford
Silverstein () is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 2000. Their band name is a reference to the famous children's author Shel Silverstein, whom the band had admired and whose work they had read as children. They have rele ...
, guitarist for the band
Silverstein
*
Kyle Burns, director, writer
*
Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...
, actor
*
Gordon Deppe
Spoons is a Canadian new wave band, formed in Burlington, Ontario in 1979. They recorded several Canadian chart hits between 1982 and 1989, and in 1983, they were nominated for Most Promising Group of the Year at the Juno Awards. Their mos ...
, guitarist for the band
Spoons
Spoons may refer to:
* Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup
* Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons
Film and TV
* ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show
*Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos''
...
*
Rob MacIsaac, President of Hamilton Health Sciences
*
Chris Schultz
Christopher Schultz (February 16, 1960 – March 4, 2021) was a Canadian professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He primarily played with the CFL Toronto A ...
, football player
*
Brett Wickens
Brett Wickens (born April 15, 1961 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a British-Canadian creative director known for his work with identity design. He is a partner for the Ammunition Design Group, and is currently living and working in the San Francisco ...
, Creative Director
Ammunition Group, California
Official Site and founding member of the band Spoons; founder of Ceramic Hello
See also
* List of high schools in Ontario
The following is a list of secondary schools in Ontario. Secondary education policy in the Canadian province of Ontario is governed by the Ministry of Education. Secondary education in Ontario includes Grades 9 to 12. The following list include ...
* Halton District School Board
The Halton District School Board serves public school students throughout Halton Region, including the municipalities of Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville. Its administration area is to the southwest of the city of Toronto. In 2006-20 ...
* Aldershot, Ontario
Aldershot is a community in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Located on the shore of Burlington Bay of Lake Ontario, it is a former unincorporated village that was previously a part of East Flamborough Township until it was annexed by the city of Burl ...
External links
*
HDSB homepage
References
{{Reflist, 2
High schools in Burlington, Ontario
1962 establishments in Ontario
Educational institutions established in 1962