Appleby College

Appleby College

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Headmaster	Guy S. McLean
School type	Private Day/Boarding Co-Ed
Motto	Nec temere, nec timide (Neither rashly nor fearfully)
Religious affiliation	Anglican
Founded	1911
Location	Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Enrollment	approximately 675
Campus Surroundings	Large, approximately 65 acre, private campus, located on the shores of Lake Ontario Additional campus in Temagami, Ontario, used for winter and summer expeditions.
Mascot	A blue whippet: The Blue Dog
School colour(s)	"The Double Blue" (Light and Dark Blue)

Appleby College is an international private school (grades 7-12) located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1911 by John Guest, a former Headmaster of the Preparatory School at Upper Canada College. Guest dreamed of establishing a small boarding school in the country, and did so with the support and financial assistance of Sir Byron Edmund Walker, a prominent Canadian businessman and patron of the arts. Today, Appleby is a co-educational day and boarding university-preparatory school, with a curriculum based around the liberal arts. It is situated on Lake Ontario in Oakville, Ontario, roughly 50 kilometres west of Toronto. Students are drawn primarily from Oakville, Burlington and Mississauga, but boarding students come from other parts of Canada and throughout all continents of the world. Appleby is a member of the International Round Square Organisation and the Canadian Independent Schools Athletic Association. Appleby is accredited by the Canadian Educational Standards Institute and is recognized as one of Canada's leading independent schools. On October 13, 2006, Maclean's Magazine named Appleby one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. Appleby is the first high school ever to receive this distinction.

Pillars of Strength and Academics

Appleby has identified five Pillars of Strength upon which to concentrate: Community Spirited, Technologically Innovative, Academically Vital, Globally Inquisitive, and Actively Engaged. Appleby students and faculty use technology in virtually every aspect of student life (currently IBM X41 Tablets and SMART Boards). Appleby was the 2nd school in North America to fully utilize laptops and other technology in every angle of the school, after Cincinnati Country Day School. Each boarding room and classroom is equipped with internet ports and power outlets. A large portion of the assignments are done on the computer and subsequently emailed to the teacher.

Campus

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A view of "Appleby College" from Creek Field at the southern end of the campus.

The school has spacious grounds with a main classroom building, dining hall, arena, five playing fields (one football size), three tennis courts, three squash courts, a gymnasium, a 20m swimming pool, four boarding houses and the Anglican John Bell Memorial Chapel, designed in the Westminster style. The chapel houses the first ever Inuit-designed stained glass window, created on commission by Kenojuak Ashevak, O.C. As well, the south boundary of the campus runs along the shores of Lake Ontario, and a creek runs through the west side of campus, bordered by playing fields and the Appleby College forest.

Boarding

As well as being a day school, boarding is offered from Grades 9 though 12 and there are numerous international students from over 20 countries attending Appleby. When the school first opened in 1911, boarding was mandatory. Over time as the Greater Toronto Area grew, Appleby became less of a "school in the country" as originally envisioned by John Guest, and more of a mixed day and boarding school in the suburbs. Fewer than half of students now board. However, in keeping with a tradition that has been maintained since 1911, all students in their "Senior Two" (Grade 12) are required to go into residence. Approximately 240 students are currently in residence, the majority of whom are in Senior Two.

There are four houses in which Appleby's boarding students reside, and with which the day students are affiliated: Baillie House; Walker House; Colley House; and Powell's House. Baillie House is a girls' residence and named after a prominent family that has attended and supported Appleby for several generations. Walker House was one of three boys' residences before co-education and is now a girls' residence, and is named for the school's original benefactor, Sir Byron Edmund Walker. Colley and Powell's are boys' residences and are named for former Appleby Masters. T.B. Colley taught at Appleby for 35 years and was housemaster of School House, which was re-named in his honour in 1949. Vernon Powell received the Military Cross and was killed in action during World War I.

Students are assigned affiliation with a boarding house in the third term of Middle Two (grade 8) or prior to entry into Upper One (grade 9). Membership of the houses can be distinguished by house ties, which depict the house colours and are worn by students as an optional substitute for the school tie. Each house is represented by an animal that is displayed prominently by a large mural in each of the houses. Baillie House is represented by a tiger, Colley House by a bulldog, Powell's House by a lion, and Walker House is represented by a grizzly bear.

Sports

In addition to co-curricular activities and Northward Bound, each Appleby student is required to participate in the school's athletic program. Grade nines and tens (Upper Ones and Twos) must have three full terms of sport, and grade elevens and twelves (Senior Ones and Twos) must have two (the other term must be spent doing community service or engaging in a full-time arts activity).

Interscholastic competition is offered in soccer, field hockey, swimming, basketball, hockey, tennis and rugby, among others. Ironically, two of the longest standing and formerly most prominent Appleby team sports are no longer offered. Cricket was played since the school opened, and was discontinued in 1992. There was a movement within the student body to re-instate cricket as an instructional sport in the 2004-2005 year. Football was also played since early in the school's history, and was discontinued in 2005. Appleby's greatest period of success in football was during the 1960s when the first team achieved a string of almost unbroken winning seasons. The best seasons were 1966 and 1967 when the team went undefeated in inter-scholastic play. The success of the 1967 team, in particular, who defeated not only Appleby's Old Boys in an exhibition game, but each of the first teams of the "Little Big Four" schools, Upper Canada College, St. Andrew's College, Ridley College and Trinity College School, led to Appleby joining the CISAA, where all of Appleby's different sports teams have competed since.

David Smith coached the first football team from 1957 to 1980. He was himself a former Appleby student and taught English and coached football at Appleby for a total of 34 years, retiring as a teacher in 1991. Mr. Smith died in 2005.

Appleby's first football team achieved its next and last undefeated season in 1985, under the coaching of alumnus Dave Singer. This was the school's only CISAA championship for first team football. The school had also fielded strong teams in the early 1980s, when former CFL star Jeff Fairholm played.

With the switch to a four-year high school program in 1987, Appleby struggled to field competitive football teams, eventually withdrawing from CISAA competition, and then discontinuing football altogether.

Soccer remains a popular fall sport for boys and girls. The boys first soccer team has also enjoyed considerable success in CISAA competition, winning consecutive CISAA championships in 1982 and 1983 under coach Colin Revill. Under the coaching of Tosh MacFarlane Appleby again won the CISAA championship in 1986 and then three straight championships between 1990 and 1992.

Appleby enjoyed tremendous success in swimming in the 1970s winning 4 out of a possible 5 CISAA first team championships between 1976 and 1980 under coach and long time Appleby geography teacher John Berriman. The swim team was also extremely successful more recently winning the CISAA co-ed championships each year between 1997 and 2000, as well as 2004-2007, under coach Sheila Kuyper and Brooke Millman.

During the late 1970s Appleby also won a number of championships for first team squash, coached by the late Ned Larsen, Appleby's fourth headmaster.

Rugby has been a prominent spring sport since the early 1970s, and continues to be popular for both boys and girls. The school's period of greatest success for rugby was under the coaching of former physics teacher Jim Washington, who coached the first rugby team from 1970 to 1989, achieving a winning record every season during that period. The years between 1973 and 1985 were particularly dominant, with the first team going undefeated almost every year and winning 11 out of 13 CISAA championships. More recently, the first boy's team won the 2005 Canadian Association of Independent Schools tournament held at Bishop's College School in Lennoxville Quebec.

Prefects

In the British tradition, prefects are appointed from among the Senior Two (Grade 12) students by the headmaster, and hold one of fourteen portfolios, listed as follows:

• Head Prefect (or Head Boy/Girl)
• Senior School Prefect
• Upper School Prefect
• Middle School Prefect
• Academics Prefect
• Arts Prefect
• Athletics Prefect
• Chapel Prefect (or Head Chapel Warden)
• Service Prefect
• International Prefect
• Powell's House Prefect
• Colley House Prefect
• Baillie House Prefect
• Walker House Prefect

History

• Originally called Appleby School when it opened in 1911 (the school had 29 students), it was renamed Appleby College in 1941.

An Appleby School crest c. 1915.

• The first Argus (the school yearbook) was published in 1916.

• The school chapel was completed after seven years of construction, and dedicated in November, 1929.

• In 1956 the memorial entrance to the classroom building was completed, in commemoration of the Appleby boys and master who had been killed in World War I and World War II.

• Appleby marked its 50th anniversary in 1961 with a significant building expansion. A dining hall was built and named after John Guest, the founder and first headmaster. A third boarding residence, "New House" was opened, later re-named Walker House after the school's original benefactor.

• In 1968 the school chapel, formerly the Memorial Chapel, was expanded to its present size and renamed the John Bell Chapel in honour of the third headmaster, who retired that year. The first Appleby Quarterly, Appleby's alumni newsletter, was also published this year.

• In 1970 the swimming pool and J.S. Gairdner hockey arena were opened. Previously Appleby hockey was played at the Oakville Arena.

• In 1971 with enrollment rising, Appleby was split into a Junior and Senior School. Junior School consisted of grades 4 through 8. Previously the school had admitted boys as young as grade 1. Senior School consisted of grades 9 through 13.

• In 1973, Appleby introduced the innovative Northward Bound outdoor education program at the school's "Northern Campus" on Rabbitnose Island, Lake Temagami.

• In 1976, participation in the Senior School Cadet Corps became optional for students in grades 11 through 13. In 1984, it became a completely voluntary corps. Appleby maintains #440 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps to this day, open to both boys and girls.

• In 1979, the school cook, Hilda Chattaway, reached a remarkable milestone of 50 years of continuous service to Appleby. She continued to run the school's kitchen until her death in 1985. In 1982 the Junior School boarding dormitory located on the top floor of Colley House was named after her. However, boarding for the Junior grades was discontinued in 1990.

• September 1980 marked the first time day students outnumbered boarders

• Appleby commemorated its 75th anniversary during the 1985-1986 school year. Memorable events from that year included the first football team's undefeated season and first and only CISAA championship, and the visit of Lady Mountbatten to officially open the new wing to the classroom building. The new facility was called Nicholas Court and housed facilities for art, music and debating, in addition to new classrooms.

• Appleby was one of the first high schools in Ontario to eliminate Grade 13, moving to a four year program with a "double cohort" graduating class in 1987. All high schools in Ontario moved from a five year to a four year program as of 2003.

• In 1990, Saturday classes were eliminated. Previously, a chapel service and classes were held on Saturday mornings and sports were played in the afternoon. Up until the 1970s, boarders had also attended a Sunday church service at St. Jude's Anglican Church in Oakville.

• Prior to becoming co-educational in 1991, Appleby was a school for boys only. Girls were admitted in grades 6 to 11. Before then, Appleby's sister school was St. Mildred's Lightbourn School, an Oakville private school for girls. Appleby and St. Mildred's often collaborated in drama, for example.

• At the same time that girls were admitted, grades 4 through 6 were phased out and the Junior School/ Senior School division was eliminated. Michael Nightingale was the Director of the Junior School for all twenty years that it was in existence.

• In 1993 Appleby saw its first co-educational graduating class. By that fall, the school had taken on its present character of a completely co-educational school for students in grades 7 through 12. A fourth boarding residence, Baillie House, was also built for female students.

• The first female Head Prefect was Gillian Hnatiw, during the 1994-1995 school year.

Scandal

In 1998, Clark Winton Noble ("Knobby") was convicted of sexual assault stemming from an event that occurred in 1988 against an Appleby College student. Knobby Noble had been the Director of Appleby's Northward Bound program from the early 1970's to mid-1980's but had stepped down from that position by the time of the incident which led to his conviction. At the time of his sentencing he also admitted to an earlier attack on an Upper Canada College student in 1971, when he was a teacher at that school. The case received coverage in The Globe and Mail during October, 2006 because Mr. Noble's conviction was pardoned by the federal government.

Notable alumni

• Raymond Massey, (1914) actor
• John Marshall Harlan II, (1916) Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1955-1971)
• George Montegu Black II, (1929) President of Canadian Breweries and father of Conrad Black
• John Osler, (1933) former Ontario Judge, Director of Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (1990-1995)
• George Atkins, (1934) founder, Developing Countries Farm Radio Network; member, Order of Canada
• J. Pearce Bunting, (1947) President (1977-1995), Toronto Stock Exchange
• Norman Atkins, (1953) Canadian Senator
• Dan Hays, (1958) Canadian Senator, former Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
• William Gairdner, (1960) Olympic athlete (Decathlon, Tokyo, 1964), conservative author
• John Kent Harrison, (1964) television director
• Jeff Fairholm, (1984) Canadian Football League player
• Dylan Neal, (1987) actor
• Colin Ferguson, (1990) actor

Headmasters

• John S.H. Guest 1911-1934
• Percival Wickens 1934-1937
• Rev. Canon John A.M. Bell 1937-1968
• Edward R. Larsen 1968-1980
• J.E. Dickens (Acting) 1980-1981
• Alexis S. Troubetzkoy 1981-1987
• Guy S. McLean 1987-present

Faculty of Note

Robert Snowden taught English at Appleby from 1975 to 1985, and is now Headmaster of St. Michaels University School in Victoria, British Columbia. He taught at Ridley College after leaving Appleby, and served as Dean of Students of that school as well. He is an Appleby alumnus, and was the Head Prefect during the 1969-1970 school year.

David Howie taught History at Appleby in the 1980s and 1990s, and is now President of Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan

Christopher Shannon, another History teacher of the same time, is Headmaster of Lower Canada College in Montreal.

Catherine Raaflaub, former Appleby Assistant Headmaster (School & Community Relations), became Headmaster of Strathcona Tweedsmuir School near Calgary, Alberta, between 2004 and 2006, but then returned to Appleby to assume the role of Assistant Headmaster (School & Community Relations) and Director, Advancement.

Angela Terpstra, former Appleby Assistant Headmaster (Curriculum), is now Principal of the Senior School at Bishop Strachan School in Toronto.

External links

• Appleby College website
• Google Satellite Map of the Campus