Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts

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Coordinates: 53°33′13″N 113°29′46″W / 53.55361°N 113.49611°W / 53.55361; -113.49611

Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts
Address
10210-108 Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Information
School board Edmonton Public Schools
Principal John Beaton
School type Public K-12 Arts and IB
Grades K–12
Established 1911
Homepage www.victoria-school.ca/

Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts is a public school in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada operated by Edmonton Public Schools, offering students from Kindergarten through Grade 12 an arts-focused education.

Now known as just Victoria School for the arts, it was formerly known as Victoria Composite High School or "Vic Comp" for short. In 1985, Bob Maskell took over the position of school principal with the intention of transforming the school from a vocational school with a low enrollment and bad reputation to an arts-based alternative school. He sold off the vocational equipment to finance large-scale renovations, and recruited a staff qualified in a broad range of arts disciplines. This staff included Tami Dowler-Coltman, a drama specialist who would help to write new curriculum and classes for the school. Tami also had her work at "Vic" recognized by receiving the Prime Ministers excellence in teaching. Because of the work of Maskell and Dowler-Coltman Victoria School of the Arts has become one of the top arts-focused schools in North America.


The school is an International Baccalaureate school, and offers the IB program for grades K-12: one of the only schools in Canada to do so.

There are five programs students may pursue at Victoria; Design and New Media, Visual Arts, Theatre, Dance, and Music.

In addition to its academic and arts programs, Victoria School is known for its cheer teams. The 1994 Large Squad team won the Suzutan World Cheerleading Championships in Nagoya, Japan.

The high school library was destroyed by a deliberately set fire in April 2007. As of early 2009 the school is undergoing MAJOR Renovations!!

Contents

[edit] Arthur Hiller Student Film Festival

The school also hosts the Arthur Hiller Student Film Festival. A film festival in honor of Arthur Hiller, an alumni of the School. Mr. Hiller, a notable Hollywood director has returned many times to share his wealth of knowledge and life experience with the students. As a thank you to Mr. Hiller, in 2007 the school named their annual student film festival after him.

When the school asked Mr.Hiller if they could use his name for the festival he wasn't sure, however after hearing that students wanted to run and lead it, he was convinced. He agreed as long as the word "student" was in the festival name. He didn't want it to be just a brand, but to say something. He wanted it to be about the kids not him.

In 2009 the festival featured a new element. A filmmaking challenge in which two teams of students attempted to plan, shoot, edit and, present a 5 minute short in 2 hours. This challenge took place simultaneously with the annual film showcase. As the featured films were playing, backstage in the theatre, two teams were busy shooting. The audience was kept in the loop through the use of a live feed. This version of the festival was entirely student run as the goal of the festival was to show current student's work, and also to have alumni share work too. Much like the way Mr. Hiller himself returned to share his knowledge with students. So in that spirit a current student David Kelso, and an alumni Jordan Dowler-Coltman teamed up to produce the festival.

[edit] Notable alumni

Leslie Nielsen

[edit] External links

[edit] Contact Details

(780)426- 3010

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