Ashbury College
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| Ashbury College | |
 Honesty, Courage, Kindness |
|
| Location | |
| Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | |
| Website | |
| http://www.ashbury.on.ca/ | |
| Information | |
| Headmaster | Tam Matthews |
| Director of the Junior School | Peter Montgomery |
Ashbury College is an independent day and boarding school located in Rockcliffe Park, in the city of Ottawa, Canada. It was founded in 1891 and moved to its current venue in 1910. Previously it occupied a venue across from Ottawa's Parliament Hill. The school currently enrolls 485 senior (grades 9-12) and 160 junior (grades 4-8) students. The current headmaster is Tam Matthews, with the Director of the Junior School being Peter Montgomery. The Senior School has an Assistant Headmaster of Daily Life, Peter Ostrom, and an Assistant Headmaster of Academics, Malcolm Mousseau.
Ashbury College is a selective private school which offers the International Baccalaureate curriculum in grades 11 and 12. Graduates often matriculate to highly prestigious colleges and universities in Canada, the USA, and around the globe. For a number of years, the students of the graduating class have received 100% university placement. Recent graduates have matriculated to Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Duke University, Dartmouth College, Brown University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and McGill University, among others.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Senior School
[edit] Admission
Admission to Ashbury College is competitive. [2] . Applicants are required to submit and complete the following:
- Application Form and Fee
- School Reports
- Confidential Reference
- Personal Profile: All Senior School candidates are required to submit a minimum 300-word, type-written essay introducing themselves and providing the following details: academic goals and interests, extra-curricular activities, community involvement and areas of distinction.
- New Student Interview: All candidates are required to participate in an interview. The interview is approximately 20 minutes in length. For international applicants, the interview may be completed by telephone.
- Grade 9 & 10 Entrance Examination: Candidates applying to Grade 9 or 10 must write the standardized, multiple-choice entrance examination to assess skills in English and math at the student's current grade level. International applicants may be required to write our entrance examination at their current school. Depending on English proficiency, international applicants may also be required to submit a current TOEFL or SLEP score.[3]
[edit] House System & Prefects
Ashbury students are divided into four houses upon entering in ninth grade. Each house has rougly 30 students per grade and 120 in each house during any academic year. The houses are:
- Woollcombe House (for boarding students),
- New House
- Connaught House (known as C-House)
- Alexander House (known as A- House).
Students with older siblings or alumni parents are put in their "family" house and others are randomly assigned. Houses are permanent from 9th grade until graduation and identification is often through the house-specific neck-tie or commonly worn house t-shirts during P.E., house events or after 5pm when No. 3 (casual) uniform can be worn. The houses compete for the "Wilson Shield" which is awarded at the end of the academic year.
Each house is led by prefects, graduating students elected for their leadership skills, involvement in school life and strong academic standing. Prefects organize house events, interhouse competitions, and fundraising activities under the guidance of a housemaster, a teacher at Ashbury affliated with each house. Prefects are easily identified by their burgundy blazers. One prefect is appointed school captain each year.
[edit] Core Values
- Academic Excellence
The challenging, broad-based academic program, which promotes critical thinking and creativity, prepares students for success in university and in life.
- Community
Ashbury is a caring community offering a safe, structured environment in which students and staff are encouraged to reach their potential. The spirit of Ashbury — characterized by enthusiasm and cooperation — is seen in the strong and productive relationships among students, staff, alumni and parents.
- Ethical and Spiritual Development
Ashbury College fosters ethical and spiritual growth in a community founded upon integrity, tolerance, mutual respect and service to others.
- Personal Growth
Athletics, the arts, outdoor education and community service lead to the development of healthy, self-confident individuals by encouraging students to participate, to strive for excellence, and to develop strong leadership skills.
- International Understanding
Ashbury College’s unique location in the heart of Canada’s bilingual capital city, together with the cultural diversity of our community, foster international understanding and global responsibility.
[edit] The Senior School’s Philosophy of Education
The liberal education provided by the Ashbury College Senior School teaches students to think, speak and write clearly, critically and creatively. It leads them to explore the core subjects that comprise our human heritage and are the hallmarks of an educated person. It develops a healthy body and illuminates the spirit by inspiring students to look beyond themselves towards the greater good. Teaching at the College is characterized by meaningful and respectful relationships between faculty and students, the teachers’ profound engagement with their disciplines, and a diverse range of pedagogical approaches. Ashbury graduates enter university with the knowledge, skills, integrity and compassion born of careful scholarship, richly rewarding faculty contacts, physical activity and spiritual reflection.
[edit] Junior School
The Junior School is a division of Ashbury College for male students from grade four to grade eight. Unlike the Senior School's blue colors, Junior School uses green as its dominant color which is prevalent in many locations including the website and uniforms, for example. Junior School students all wear the same tie with maroon, grey, and green strips, while Senior School students wear a different school tie on Mondays and wear an appropriate tie of choice on other days of the week. Senior School students also have the option of wearing a house tie. Like the Senior School, Junior School students are placed into one of four houses upon their arrival: Dragons, Hobbits, Wizards and Goblins. These houses come from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Houses compete extensively throughout the academic year in athletic (e.g. Track and Field Day), artistic (e.g. House Music Competition, Shakespeare Reading Contest), academic (e.g. Scholar Roll), and social (e.g. Honour Board) activities and house points are accumulated throughout the year. Students are identified by house in many situations, primarily athletic, where everyone sports a house shirt with varying colours for physical education activities. Students are also assigned a "home form", where there are presently one for each of grades four, five, and six, and three for both grades seven and eight.
Since 2003, the Junior School also features a leadership program called L.E.E.D. The program's goal is to develop leadership qualities in students. Students in grade 4 and 5 are introduced to the program at a young age. In grades 7 and 8, house captains, who are nominated or elected by the faculty and/or student body, serve as leaders and role models for the house. They are responsible for organizing activities and initiatives. For example, responsibilities include organizing inter-house sport activities and fund-raising for charities, with the ultimate goal of driving their house to win the annual competition. The arts programme is another area of focus of the Junior School. In the Junior school, classes of art, music and dramatic arts are offered to students. One of these courses is optional for students in grade 8. The arts program is very diverse and includes school play productions, inter-house music competitions, and the creation of personal artwork. Junior School students have participated in Theatre Ashbury production, and former Junior School students have often played major roles. Recently, the Junior School has presented musicals, beginning with "Rana's Pond" (2002), and continuing with two original productions. These were "News", (in 2004) directed by Ingrid Boyd, with words by Ingrid Boyd and David Polk, music by John Merritt and set by Elisabeth Arbuckle and, another original production ("Artifacts!") produced by Alex Menzies with words by David Polk and music based on established scores, and set design once again by Elisabeth Arbuckle. This production will be re-presented this school year. The Junior School is proud of the high level of professionalism that its Drama, Music, and Art Departments have shown in these productions.
[edit] Maclaren Hall (Great Hall)
The Great Hall is Ashbury's cafeteria. Opened in 2004, the Great Hall now serves breakfast, lunch and dinner for boarders and lunch for day students (Junior and Senior school alike). The Great Hall offers selections for vegetarians as well as those with other needs. Ashbury is working towards becoming a "nut-free environment". Parents are welcome to join students for lunch. In addition to cash being tendered, many students are able to use a "Flex Card". Parents place money onto the Flex Card as needed and students swipe their Photo ID card to purchase items in the Great Hall. The Flex Card doubles as a library card.
The Great Hall is only a part of the new addition to the College that was completed in 2004. Other parts include a new double gymnasium, four new classrooms (equipped with SmartBoards), a student common area, a staff room, and offices.
The Great Hall was just re-named in 2006 as the Maclaren Hall in honour of an Alumnus Don Maclaren.
[edit] Technology
Ashbury College is a technologically advanced institution and is recognised for its incorporation of technology into the classroom wherever possible. Technology used at Ashbury includes:
- FirstClass e-mail system with one account for all students, faculty, and staff
- Flexcard (lunch card) system, the Flex card doubles as a Library card, as well as when it is swiped, unlocks certain doors into the school
- Smart Board technology in most Senior School classrooms and one in the Junior School
- Full wireless internet network covering the whole school
- Projectors in most Junior and Senior School classrooms
- Use of Apple MacBook and Dell laptop computers for school use
- Digital camera and camcorder rental for school use
- Computer labs in both Junior and Senior school
- Use of network printers (laxly observed limit of 250 sheets a year)
- IT Department for resolving technology related problems
[edit] Miscellanea
- The male/female student proportion of the Senior School is 55%/45%, but is becoming increasingly equal. Ashbury only began accepting girls in 1982.
- The campus is 12 acres and is situated in the prestigious Rockcliffe Park area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- The number of students in a class ranges from about 7 to 23.
- Tuition fees for the 2006-2007 school year are $16,600 for day students and $35,300 for boarding students.
- There are about 80 boarders yearly from approximately 30 countries. One of Ashbury College's Core Values is International Understanding, which is exemplified on International Day held every April, when boarders set up food booths and dress traditionally, and students examine past and present global conflicts.
- At the end of the 2005/2006 school year, Ashbury College was ranked 5th in Ottawa for highschool sports by the Ottawa Citizen
- Matthew Perry attended Ashbury.
- John Turner, Canada's seventeenth Prime Minister attended Ashbury
- Adrian Harewood, current host of CBC Radio I's show All in a Day for Ottawa, attended Ashbury and graduated as the School Captain in 1989.
[edit] External links
Please note: The "sources" for this page are the first-hand-experiences of the writers, who are students of Ashbury College.
