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Canterbury High School is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school in the Elmvale Acres neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is an arts magnet school, and located at 900 Canterbury Ave. It serves 1304 students. While offering both an arts program and a general program, Canterbury is known primarily for the arts. The Arts Canterbury program began in 1983. It was recently rated by Maclean's Magazine as the top high school for the arts in Canada. It is not the top arts high school, which would mean the best school overall of all arts schools. Instead it is the best high school specifically for the arts.
The school opened in 1969 as a comprehensive high school. It was the last in a series of ten high schools built by the Collegiate Board to deal with the baby boom. At the time of its opening it was considered an extremely modern school, employing all the latest ideas in education. Most notably many of its walls were moveable, allowing for an easy reorganization of space. It also had one of the largest libraries of any secondary school. From 1969 to 1976, Canterbury offered a technical programme based on Aerospace Technology. The shops offered Airframe, and other aviation based technical studies. The school did operate a 1969 Cessna 190J (CF-CHS) and our Schweitzer 2-33 glider. The Ottawa Board of Education withdrew support of the concept based on liability issues.
The school later became an arts magnet school. As an arts magnet school it has since enjoyed great support from the local and arts communities as well as its former alumni, as best illustrated when the band Arcade Fire played a special show on January 19th, 2007 in the cafeteria in support of the arts programs.
In spite of the focus on the arts, the school still maintains a strong athletics program, with one of the broadest ranges of sports teams in the OCDSB.
It's on the Greenboro route (651/652) of the OC Transpo system, in the Alta Vista neighbourhood.
Maclean's Magazine ranking
The August 23rd, 2004 edition of Maclean's magazine rated Canada's best high schools. Canterbury is featured prominently as the best high school for the arts in the country. The article highlighted 40 top high schools that counter the image of lackluster, under-performing public education in Canada. While not a ranking of Canada's 16,000 high schools, the story's intent is to "shine some light on those that have found innovative and effective ways to engage kids and steer them toward success."
Under the title "Arts Smarts", Maclean's said: "Almost everything that goes into the vibrant life of Ottawa's Canterbury High School and its well-known arts program is positive and mutually reinforcing... Highly motivated students inspire a dedicated staff to put in extra hours... Kids from any of the five arts divisions support their peers in the other groups, stopping to offer applause for a band's hall concert, or incorporating poems within wall murals... But even more impressive is the whole atmosphere of the place, where hallways and classrooms are crowded with students who radiate loads of enthusiasm."
Notable alumni
Many Canterbury alumni have gone on to enjoy success. These include:
- Mark Bell, hockey
- Raoul Bhaneja, actor
- Nick Boynton, hockey
- Penelope Corrin, actress/comedian
- Shean Donovan, hockey
- Matthew Edison, actor/playwright
- Martin Gero, writer/producer
- Bridget Hall (actor), actress
- Neil Herland, journalist
- Jessica Holmes, actress/comedian
- Peter Hume, politician
- Alyn McCauley, hockey
- Moira J. Moore, author (though studied clarinet)
- Richard Parry, musician/Arcade Fire
- Michael Peca, hockey
- Gary Roberts, hockey
- Ian Stonebridge, musician
- Emma Taylor-Isherwood, actress
Current students include Sally Taylor-Isherwood, a voice actress for Arthur, James Watts, a voice actor (The Secret World of Benjamin Bear, Zeroman), and screen actor (Getting Along Famously).
Canterbury Arts
Canterbury has five different arts programs that students must audition and interview for to be accepted into. The five arts are:
Each of the programs requires a strong commitment from the students and staff. It is not unusual for people to be found working after hours in the school as late as 3am.
External links
References
Coordinates: 45°23'18?N 75°37'35?W? / ?45.38833, -75.62639
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