Westmount Collegiate Institute

Westmount Collegiate Institute

Address
Suite 103 - 1000 New Westminster Drive Thornhill, Ontario, L4J 8G3 Canada
Coordinates	43°49′04″N 79°27′12″W / 43.817649°N 79.453433°W / 43.817649; -79.453433Coordinates: 43°49′04″N 79°27′12″W / 43.817649°N 79.453433°W / 43.817649; -79.453433
Information
School type	High school
Religious affiliation(s)	Secular
Founded	1996
School board	York Region District School Board
Superintendent	Rashmi Swarup
Area trustee	Susan Geller
School number	952516
Principal	Sheri Epstein
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1257^[1] (October 2015)
Language	English
Campus	Urban
Area	Thornhill, Ontario
Colour(s)	Teal, Dusty Rose
Mascot	Wolf
Team name	Westmount Wolves
Website	www.yrdsb.ca/schools/westmount.ci/
Last updated: Mayr 2016

Westmount Collegiate Institute is a high school in the Thornhill, Ontario district of the greater city of Vaughan. It opened its doors in 1996, as part of the multi-purpose Benjamin Vaughan Complex, named for Benjamin Vaughan, the diplomat for which the city is named. The complex contains the high school, Rosemount Community Centre, and the City Playhouse Theatre, to which the school is given limited access. The school is part of the York Region District School Board. Westmount is one of the 29 secondary schools in the board which comprises 191 schools altogether.^[2] Westmount is known for its arts program and its strong academic program. Many awards have been given to recognize the art, drama, dance, and music program known as ArtsWest. Mathematics and the sciences were also recognized with York Regional awards. The school is three levels with the first floor hosting many Arts classes and the gymnasium, the second floor is prevalent in languages, and the third floor has many computer based classes, mathematics and sciences.

Benjamin Vaughan Complex

Rosemount Community Centre

The community centre, which is attached to the northern edge of the school, contains an arena, a split gymnasium, and recreational rooms used for different events and programs, such as playing bridge. Rosemount also hosts various summer camps and programs, such as summer stock. The name of the community centre was created by merging the names of two nearby elementary schools and subdivisions, Rosedale and Westmount. The school is given access to the gym and arena throughout the years, such as for the school's hockey team.^[3]

City Playhouse

Adjoining Westmount from the southern portion of the complex, the City Playhouse is a 386-seat, community-based theatre featuring a wide variety of professional, community and school productions. It also serves the community as a rental house, particularly during the offseason months of May–September. The box office is on the south side of the theatre adjacent to New Westminster Drive. Similar to the community centre, the high school is given access to the theatre for use in assemblies, Westmount drama productions as well as other theatrical shows and the bi-annual musical productions, Springfest and Winterfest.^[3] Known productions to frequent the theatre include but are not limited to City Youth Players, Starbeat, Characters, Judy & David, and even the in-house City Playhouse Productions. Marquee Productions was also a major company to produce shows for the theatre, among others in the Greater Toronto Area, but are no longer producing for the City Playhouse theatre having finished their last projects there in April, 2012. Some of the plays over the years include Romeo & Juliet, Afternoon In The Park, Grease, Oklahoma, As You Like It, Annie, Aladdin, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Nursery

Attached to the west side of the complex, the Butternut Child Centre is a preschool which exists for children aged four and younger. There has been a mutual relationship between this nursery's daily functions and Westmount's student body, such as the observation of daycare kids by students taking Human Growth and Development and likewise, the kids being walked around the school during operating hours.

Building

The complex was built by MCW Consultants in 1995,^[3] who later built a similar complex in Newmarket, Ontario, Newmarket High School. It too contains a similar attached community theatre. The older Milliken Mills High School in Markham, Ontario, built in 1988, has a similar layout on the inside to the two; however, it contains a very different façade and décor. All three schools contain a large open atrium with a grand staircase that handles the highest volume of students getting to and from class. Even though these schools are in three different cities, they are all part of the York Region District School Board.

Arts West

In 2009, Westmount started to offer an arts program called ArtsWest, where the applicant can either major in Music (Instrumental), Dance, Visual Arts, Vocals, or Drama in the following school year. ArtsWest is the fourth Arts program within York Region.

Alumni

Westmount has seen over 3,000 graduates since its founding. Notable alumni include Shane Feldman and Ethan Goldstein. Feldman is a motivational speaker, media producer, and founder of the international charity Count Me In. Goldstein is a Gluten-Free Activist who restructured course curriculum in food and nutrition classes in school boards across Canada.

Synagogue

On Saturdays and religious Jewish holidays, members of the Westmount Community Synagogue are given access to the high school, where there are many programs taking place. Rabbis give religious lectures in English within the school while many of the classrooms are occupied by classes for younger children. Formal religious ceremonies take place in either the cafeteria of the school or the west gym depending on expected attendance levels.

References

↑ "York Region District School Board - Monthly Enrolment Report" (PDF). York Region District School Board. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
↑ York Region District School Board
1 2 3 http://www.mcw.com/display_pdf.asp?id=80

Vaughan

Municipality	Vaughan Concord Kleinburg Maple Thornhill Woodbridge Regional Municipality of York

Culture and services	Notable people Vaughan Public Libraries Binder Twine Festival Boyd Conservation Area Canada's Wonderland Kortright Centre for Conservation Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital McMichael Canadian Art Collection Reptilia Malls: The Promenade Shopping Centre Vaughan Mills

Education	Public: Emily Carr Secondary School Holy Cross Catholic Academy Maple High School St. Elizabeth Catholic High School St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School Tommy Douglas Secondary School Vaughan Secondary School Westmount Collegiate Institute Woodbridge College Private: RCC Institute of Technology Toronto District Christian High School

Government	Vaughan City Council Mayors Municipal elections (2006, 2010) Electoral districts: Thornhill (federal, provincial) Vaughan (federal, provincial) Defunct: Vaughan—King—Aurora York North

Transportation	Overview Barrie line (Maple GO Station, Rutherford GO Station) York Region Transit (previously Vaughan Transit; Promenade Terminal, Vaughan Mills Terminal, Wonderland Terminal) Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (TTC) Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Pioneer Village Terminal Maple Airport

Sport	Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame Toronto Nationals (1970–80) Vaughan Flames Vaughan Vipers York Region Shooters

Town People

York Region District School Board Secondary Schools

Aurora: Aurora H.S.; Dr. G.W. Williams S.S.
Keswick: Keswick H.S.
King City: King City S.S.
Maple: Maple H.S.
Markham: Bill Crothers S.S.; Bur Oak S.S.; Markham District H.S.; Markville S.S.; Middlefield C.I.; Milliken Mills H.S.; Pierre Elliott Trudeau H.S.; Unionville H.S.
Newmarket: Dr. John M. Denison S.S.; Huron Heights S.S.; Newmarket H.S.; Sir William Mulock S.S.
Richmond Hill: Alexander Mackenzie H.S.; Bayview S.S.; Langstaff S.S; Richmond Green S.S.; Richmond Hill H.S.
Stouffville: Stouffville District S.S.
Sutton: Sutton District H.S.
Thornhill: Stephen Lewis S.S.; Thornhill S.S.; Thornlea S.S.; Vaughan S.S; Westmount C.I.
Woodbridge: Emily Carr S.S.; Tommy Douglas S.S.; Woodbridge College

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.