Avondale Alternative Secondary School is a public alternative school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12. ASAS and its family schools, Avondale Elementary School and Avondale Alternative Elementary School, are part of the

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

. Prior to 1998, the schools were part of the

North York Board of Education The North York Board of Education (NYBE, commonly known as School District 13), officially the Board of Education for the City of North York is the former public school board for the former city of North York in Ontario, Canada. In 1998, the pro ...

. The school moved to 24 Silverview Drive in 2016.

History

Avondale's predecessor, Alternative Independent Study Program (known by the acronym AISP), was the first Board of Education operated alternative school in North York and one of the first such high schools in Toronto. AISP was founded in 1971 to meet the increasing demand of the students of North York for alternative education. Following the apparent success of Shared Experience Exploration and Discovery (known as SEED) in the City of Toronto, the North York Board of Education agreed to create an alternative program which began in September 1971 with admission of the first Grade 11, 12 and 13 students. Attendance of the first 160 was determined by lottery of the students who wished to attend, and whose numbers exceeded the allotted amount. The school had a full complement of teachers and a Programme Director instead of a Principal. The founding Programme Director was the Board's former history co-ordinator Jack Gillette. Catalysts were qualified volunteers engaged to assist with teaching specialized courses designed by the students and given Ontario Ministry of Education approval. A reunion of the original 160 students and teachers took place in a private home in Toronto on November 5, 2011. Many of the original students, now in their mid to late fifties, and most of the original teachers including Jack Gillette were in attendance. AISP changed with the times and became Avondale Alternative School in the 80s. An earlier reunion of the students of AISP took place at the school on May 27, 2010. To allow construction of the new Avondale School building, the schools were temporarily relocated in the former Silverview Public School on 24 Silverview Drive on Yonge/Finch corridor. The new school opened in 2017 although Avondale Secondary will be potentially be built on 25 Oakburn Drive, the site of Oakburn Centre.

Curriculum

In addition to teaching all necessary courses required to earn an

Ontario Secondary School Diploma The Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) is a diploma granted to secondary school graduates in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of the publicly-funded province-wide school system. It is awarded to all students who complete the On ...

, Avondale offers classes in

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, French, business technology,

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, advanced functions,

calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

and vectors,

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...

, an introduction to

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

, and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

;

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

gay and lesbian studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the education of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, i ...

, and

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

. All classes are in the academic stream; applied and workplace classes must be taken via e-school or independent study."Avondale Secondary Alternative School's TDSB Profile"
/ref> Ceramics, photography, and painting and drawing are all taught by professionals in their respective fields contracted independently to teach at Avondale once a week. These teachers are known as 'catalysts'. Great emphasis is placed on dialog-based learning within classes, particularly humanities. Examples of this include informal lectures open to questioning and criticism, class discussion on texts and ideas, and structured debates and discussions as formal evaluations.

Notable alumni

MTV Movie Award The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...

-winning actor

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

*Science fiction writer and activist

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of ...

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

-winning musician and entertainer David Gershon, of Judy & David *Writer, editor, and writing teacher

Stuart Ross Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor. Ross was born in Toronto's north end in 1959 and grew up in the Borough of North York. He began writing at a very young age and was first published at age ...

*Criminal lawyer, writer

Robert Rotenberg Robert Rotenberg (born April 21, 1953) is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer and writer, based in Toronto. He has worked as a criminal defence lawyer from the 1990s. As of April, 2019 he practices as part of the association of Rotenberg Shidlowsk ...

*Economist, writer

Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin (born August 24, 1954) is a Canadian economist and author. He is a former chief economist at CIBC World Markets and is currently a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Rubin had worked at CIBC World Ma ...

*Blues musician

Colin Linden Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking. He frequently collaborates with ...

*Popular

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

personality Octavian

Kripparrian Octavian Morosan (born June 30, 1987) better known by his online username Kripparrian, is a Romanian-Canadians, Romanian-Canadian Twitch (service), Twitch video game live streaming, streamer, YouTuber and video game personality. He is known for ...

Morosan *Multiple

-winning cellist and

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

recipient,

Ofra Harnoy Ofra Harnoy ( he, עופרה הרנוי; born January 31, 1965) is an Israeli-Canadian cellist. She is a Member of the Order of Canada. By joining the international artists roster of RCA Victor Red Seal, Harnoy became the first Canadian classica ...

References

External links

Avondale Alternative Secondary SchoolTDSB Profile
{{Authority control Schools in the TDSB Alternative schools in Canada High schools in Toronto Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in Ontario

History

Curriculum

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links