Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School
| Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School | |
| Address | |
| 1009 Armour Road North Peterborough, Ontario, K9H 7H2, Canada |
|
| Coordinates | 44°19′46″N 78°18′37″W / 44.329374°N 78.310204°WCoordinates: 44°19′46″N 78°18′37″W / 44.329374°N 78.310204°W |
| Information | |
| School number | 947563 |
| School board | Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board |
| Superintendent | Peter Mangold |
| Principal | Professor Umbridge |
| Vice principal | Professor Flitwick |
| School type | Public High School |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Language | French |
| Area | 29 acres (120,000 m2) bordering the Otonabee River |
| Motto | True to Self |
| Mascot | Griffin |
| Colours | Red, Blue and Silver |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Enrolment | 600 (2011) |
| Homepage | http://tass.kprdsb.ca/ |
Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School ("TASSS") is located at 1009 Armour Road North in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1967 and is located on 29 acres (120,000 m2) bordering on the Otonabee River. It is a member of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.
Contents |
[edit] History
TASSS is named after Thomas Alexander Stewart (1786-1847). Thomas and his wife, Frances Browne Stewart (1794-1872), emigrated to Canada with their children and Thomas' brother-in-law and former business partner, Robert Reid, and his family. The party of 27 set sail from Belfast Lough on June 1, 1822. Seven weeks were spent on the ship before reaching Quebec. From Quebec they travelled to Kingston, and then on to York, where Stewart and Reid were each granted 1,200 acres (4.9 km2), provided they settled in an unsurveyed township. Douro Township in Peterborough County was suggested as a promising region. On September 9, 1822, Stewart and Reid travelled to the area with surveyor Richard Birdsall, and each chose land on the Otonabee River. Thomas and Frances developed their home, "Auburn," on Lot 1, Concession 1, raising a family of 10 children to adulthood and assisting other settlers. Thomas Stewart became a prominent and influential citizen in the area until his death in 1847 from typhoid fever.
[edit] Campus and facilities
The school is located on 29 acres (120,000 m2) bordering on the Otonabee River. TASS is a 219,238 sq. ft. building containing 59 classrooms. The auditorium can hold 800 students. [1] It was designed by architects Craig, Zeidler and Strong to house between 1200 and 1400 students comfortably, but has held in excess of 1600 students during the early 1980s.
[edit] Indoors
Its indoor facilities include:
- 2 art studios
- music studio
- drama studio
- foods lab
- 3 computer labs
- 6 science labs
- library
- 3 gymnasiums
- 7 technology classrooms
- 2 cafeterias
- "The Magic Kitchen", the former restaurant run by the Hospitality and Tourism Technology class now only prepares soup each Friday.
[edit] Outdoors
Outdoors, the school boasts:
- track
- 2 upper playing fields
- lower "island" playing field has 2 baseball diamonds
- 2 tennis courts
- 2 greenhouses
- boathouse with canoes
- Easy access to the Otonabee River
[edit] Students
Students come from an equal mix of rural and urban homes. TAS has students from the communities of Ashburnham, Douro, Keene, Otonabee, Emily, and a small percentage from the Hiawatha Lake Reserve on the shore of Rice Lake. Approximately 75% of the students are bused to school.
[edit] Declining enrolment
In 2000-01, the school had 1,097 fulltime students and it has seen a steady decline in the past decade. The projected enrolment in September 2011 is 600 students. Enrolment is expected to continue its downward spiral to be 385 full-time students in 2015. This would be approximately 900-1000 students less than full capacity of the building. [2]
[edit] Amigos Program
This high school project is designed to:
- increase the opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities to participate fully in the life of their school
- assist all students to develop their communication and social skills
- develop natural relationships between students who have a disability and their peers who don't
"At the beginning of class, I saw the disability first, now I see the person."
Amigos are students without disabilities. They are matched with students from Learning and Life Skills classes on the basis of mutual interests. The goal is to develop mutually satisfying friendships.
Amigos and students spend at least one hour a week together over the lunch hour - hanging out with friends, having lunch, attending a school activity, participating in whatever is going on. The whole group gets together once per month.
Amigos have the chance to make a difference in someone else's life, appreciate someone for who they are, and at the same time make their school a more inclusive, accepting place.
[edit] House system
A house system was established in 2004. There were originally 8 houses. This number was reduced to 4 houses at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year.
The house system was designed to create fun and encourage positive spirit at Thomas A. Stewart. The House program included activities in athletics, arts and academics.
The four houses and house colours were:
- McCloy - Red
- Lennox - Green
- Moody - Yellow
- Connacher - Blue
The house system was discontinued at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.*
[edit] Peterborough Petes
High-school age members of the Peterborough Petes Major Junior A Hockey Club attend the school. Some notable Petes who attended TAS include:
- Tie Domi
- Steve Yzerman
- Chris Pronger
- Kris King
- Mike Ricci
- Luke Richardson
- Jody Hull
- Ron Tugnutt
- Kay Whitmore
- Dave Reid
- Jordan Staal
- Eric Staal
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.mykawartha.com/article/937040--school-profile-thomas-a-stewart-secondary-school
- ^ http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2896527
[edit] External links
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This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (January 2007) |
