John G. Althouse Middle School

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John G. Althouse Middle School
Address
130 Lloyd Manor Road Toronto, Ontario, M9B 5K1, Canada
Website
http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/johngalthouse/
Information
School number	283738
School board	Toronto District School Board
Religious affiliation	None
Superintendent	Johanne Messner
Area trustee	John Campbell
Principal	Greg Freeman
Vice principal	Jeanette Lang
Administrator	Libby Pindar
Chief custodian	Currently Unknown
School type	Middle School
Grades	6 to 8
Language	English
Area	Martingrove Road and Princess Margaret Boulevard
Motto	"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
Mascot	Jaguar
Team name	John G. Althouse Jaguars
Colours	Purple and Grey
Founded	November 4, 1957
Enrollment	554 (Fall 2006)

John G. Althouse Middle School (JGA) is a middle school located in Toronto, Ontario, near the intersection of Lloyd Manor Drive and Princess Margaret Boulevard.

Most graduates of John G. Althouse go to Martingrove Collegiate Institute or Richview Collegiate Institute for high school education. A bigger portion used to go to Richview over Martingrove, but it is not true for this year, as Richview had a closed acceptance (only allowing students living in the area to be accepted, no lottery is done) to reduce the crowdedness from the huge number of students accepted the year before.

1 Information
2 History
3 Extracurricular Activities
- 3.1 Music
- 3.2 Sports
4 Awards
- 4.1 2005/2006 School Year
  - 4.1.1 Sports Awards
5 Notable Alumni
6 External links

[edit] Information

John G. Althouse is notable for its special education program, commonly referred to at the school as the "gifted" program. Because of this, the entire John G. Althouse is divided into two separate sections, which means awards are presented always with one regular student and one gifted student. The graduation process often takes very long. When graduating, the student's grades are, if the student has the requisite score, classified and announced as "Honours" (79.5% to 84.4% average), or "Principal's Honours" (higher than 84.5% average). John G. Althouse Middle School recently got an award for the best middle school in Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John G. Althouse is known for its outstanding musical program. Every student is required to play an instrument, either in band or strings. Music classes are taught every other day by professional music instructors Les Dobbin (band) and Jeff Worden (strings). Each February, John G. Althouse students participate in the Kiwanis Music Festival, and are usually considered a favourite to win^{[citation needed]}.

John G. Althouse also uses the Martingrove Collegiate Institute stage every year to showcase their student's musical talents at the annual Christmas Concert. In 2005, the Christmas Concert also included a Vocal Concert held at a local church. Another set of concerts is "Crescendo", which are held as an end of the year concert.

John G. Althouse is well known especially because of their Stage Band, which is directed by Les Dobbin, the school's band teacher. Les Dobbin also organizes the Toronto Summer Music Camp, which takes place at either Albion Hills Outdoor Education Centre or Mono Cliffs Outdoor Education Centre.

[edit] History

John G. Althouse Middle School opened on November 4, 1957, to 380 pupils [1]. The school is named after Dr. John G. Althouse, who was the Chief Director of Education for the Province of Ontario from 1944 to 1956 [2].

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

[edit] Music

The school's extracurricular instrumental activities are the Honour Orchestra, the Chamber Strings, and the Stage Band. The choirs are the Jazz Choir, the Chamber Choir, the Baritone Choir, the Grade Six Choir, the Grades Seven and Eight Concert Choir, and the Boys Treble Choir.

[edit] Sports

John G. Althouse is also known for their amazing sports team[[Media:]]s, winning first place for each sport more often than any other school in the TDSB^{[citation needed]}. John G. Althouse and Hilltop Middle School are considered rival schools, especially in sports competitions.

Many activities are also required for students to participate that will help them grow are mostly organized by the Student Government with approval from the teachers, such as the grade six trip to Crawford Lake and the Terry Fox Run consisting of a five kilometre run or a two kilometre walk at West Deane Park that students can choose from. There is the Pumpking Carving Contest during Halloween time. Students serenade the halls a week before winter break by performing Christmas carols, at different parts of the school. Students may sing or play an instrument. Then the students get a chance to deck the doors with recycled holly where they use recycled materials, such as green late slips to decorate the classroom door. A trip to the Etobicoke Field Studies Centre was accompanied by adults. The grade six art/drama trip was to go to the Young Peoples Theatre and watch a musical or play, where as seventh graders go to Stratford, Ontario to watch a Shakespearian play. Back from winter break, the school hosts two ski days at Horseshoe Valley, where some of the best memories are made. During April, a Science Fair is held for seventh and eighth grade students, and the winners are picked to go to the city-wide science fair. But don't forget the grade sevens have two days at Albion Hills where they learn about maple syrup, survival, ecosystem/group dynamic and have a chance to play many games. There are still many more activities; it is impossible to list them all.

John G. Althouse students have their own gym uniform, a smoke grey and purple number with "J.G. Althouse Athletics" emblazoned on the shirt and "Jaguars" printed on the purple shorts. JGA also has many clubs such as the French Club, the Hardcore Knitting Club, the Scrapbook Club, the Art Club, the Boyz Book Club, Spelling Bee 2006, Red Maple Club, Future Aces,Chess Club and the Debating Club. This middle school provides just as many oppourtunities to shine as a high school.