Cawthra Park Secondary School, also known as CPSS, is a public

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

built-in 1972 located in Southeast

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

, Canada. It is one of two Regional Arts Schools in the

Peel District School Board The Peel District School Board (PDSB; known as English-Language Public District School Board No. 19 prior to 1999) is a school district that serves approximately 153,000 kindergarten to grade 12 students at more than 259 schools in the Region ...

. Cawthra Park provides instruction to students from grades 9 to 12. Cawthra Park offers a Regional Art Program, which Peel students may audition to attend. It also offers a mainstream option for locals students. CPSS is one of the few secondary schools in Mississauga with an active and operational public pool facility owned and operated by the City of Mississauga. However, starting in 2023, a new pool aquatic program and facility will open at the Carmen Corbasson Community Centre (on the same land of the school) and Cawthra Park Pool will be decommissioned. The Principal is Tyler McLeod, and the Vice Principals are Barbara Gordon and Nancy Gilliard.

Arts

Cawthra Park is home to Peel's Regional Arts Program (RAP), for which students audition to study music (instrumental oncert band, guitar, and pianoor vocal), dance, dramatic arts or visual arts. Approximately two-thirds of Cawthra's students are in the RAP program, with the remaining students coming from the local area. Cawthra offers a Specialist High-Skills Major (SHSM) in Arts & Culture, allowing students to complete additional certifications and training.

Academics

Cawthra Park offers a full standard academic program. In 2017–2018, the school exceeded provincial averages for both the EQAO and OSSLT test scores.

Music

The music department has performed over the years at various venues, including mass at the

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, onstage at Disney's

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...

, Austria, and for the former American ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins. The music department runs many choral and instrumental ensembles. The Ritz, a concert choir with over 360 members, is the largest in North America. Current ensembles include Mississauga Transit, Jazz Lab, Guitar Ensemble, and the Intermediate and Senior Concert Bands. In May and June 2013, the Cawthra Park Chamber Choir performed with

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

in the

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Ra ...

. Every ensemble has achieved gold status at MusicFest, and has received awards at National competitions.

Dramatic Arts

Cawthra's drama facilities include three studios and an auditorium that seats 667. Approximately sixty drama students are accepted per year. The program introduces its students to aspects of theatre including theatre production, musical theatre, and set and costume design. The drama department produces the school's spring play and monitors the school's annual participation in the National Theatre School Drama Festival. The department also shares directorial responsibilities with its music and dance counterparts for the fall musical.

Visual Arts

The Visual Arts Department offers courses to students both in the art program as well as to students pursuing other disciplines. Courses include traditional, modern and post-modern art, desktop design, media arts and photography. The department also has ties to other departments at Cawthra Park such as fashion and communication technology. During the annual Visual Arts SpringFest, the school is transformed into an art gallery. Senior Visual Arts students also partake in an art-focused week-long class trip to New York City.

Dance

Dance forms that are studied include ballet, modern dance, musical theater and jazz. Students are also required to study a theoretical curriculum that includes the history of dance, kinesiology, composition, criticism and social issues relating to the dance community such as eating disorders, and arthritis. The department also offers elective dance courses for students not enrolled in the dance program, and dance opportunities for all students regardless of their arts discipline. Major events for the Dance Department include Dance Springfest in early April and Dance Mosaix in late May.

Productions

The school also puts on a fall musical and a spring play annually. ° = These musicals were performed by the Clarkson Musical Theatre at the school in spring (and not students) before the tradition of the spring play came into place. ∆ = The school choose to delegate the fall spot to the Clarkson Music Theatre for their musical so they could instead prepare the school's first attempt at a spring play. The above list was compiled by Daniel Lis ('14) by collecting information from yearbooks available in the school's library.

Athletics

Athletic courses as of the 2015–2016 school year include both boys and girls basketball, golf, swimming, alpine skiing, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, ultimate frisbee, soccer, tennis, hockey, cross country, track & field teams, and a boys' baseball team. The 2012 Cawthra Panthers Ultimate Frisbee team in their second season reached the ROPSSAA finals, placing second to John Cabot SS

Notable alumni

Erica Peck Erica Peck is a Canadian stage actress, who made her breakthrough in the 2007 Toronto Mirvish production of '' We Will Rock You'' and the 2013 US and Canadian national tour. Born in London, Ontario, Peck was raised in the Port Credit area of Mi ...

, lead role in the musical

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in Toronto and a Broadway performer *

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, supermodel * Wali Shah, singer-songwriter, educational speaker, United Way ambassador and honouree o
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, singer-songwriter, Death from Above 1979 *

Blake McGrath Blake James McGrath (born November 21, 1983) is a Canadian professional dancer, pop singer, actor, model, and choreographer. He was known for being on the first season of '' So You Think You Can Dance'' in 2005, and on the MTV reality dance sho ...

, singer, dancer, star of Dancelife, finalist on ''

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'' (season 1) * Deanna Casaluce, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation * Adamo Ruggiero, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation *

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, actor, ''

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'' (1987-1991, 2001-2009) * David Bryant, guitarist for

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, musicians * Drew McCreadie, winner of Best Male Improvisor in Canada at the

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. * J.D Fortune, Former Replacement

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss ...

Lead Singer * Lorne Ryder, Singer/Songwriter – CCMA and Canadian Smooth Jazz Award Nominee * Dan Griffin, Vocalist/Guitarist/Keyboardist for the

Arkells Arkells is a Canadian rock band, formed in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2006, they signed with Dine Alone Records, and have since signed with Universal Records Canada and Last Gang Records. They are managed by Last Gang Management. They have release ...

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CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

* Marnie Woodrow, Author *

Sabrina Grdevich Sabrina Grdevich is a Canadian actress. Sabrina portrayed Dana Ballard in the 1999 made-for-TV movie '' Ultimate Deception'' with Yasmine Bleeth. Her starring roles include ''Mile Zero'' and '' Lola''. Other roles included playing Cathy Blake ...

, Actor * Julia Beauchamp, Figure skater * Pooja Handa,

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Anchor * Boman Martinez-Reid, comedian

References

External links

www.cawthrapark.com
{{PeelDistrictSchools Peel District School Board High schools in Mississauga Educational institutions established in 1972 1972 establishments in Ontario Art schools in Canada