Oakwood Collegiate Institute

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Official name Oakwood Collegiate Institute
Principal Renata Gonsalves
School board (type) Toronto District School Board
(Public)
Grades 9-12
Religious affiliation None
Founded 1908
Location 991 St. Clair Ave. West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M6E 1A3
Enrollment 911 (Spring 2005)
Mascot Barons, Lady Barons
School colours Blue, Gold

Oakwood Collegiate Institute (known to students as OCI) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Contents

[edit] History

Oakwood was founded in 1908. Originally built above King Edward Public School (Jr. & Sr.), it has since moved to its present location at the corner of St. Clair Ave. West and Oakwood Ave.

[edit] Layout

Oakwood's population studies in a 3 storey building, including a basement. The "centre" of the building is the school's auditorium, and can be accessed from the first and second floors. Two wings jut out from the main building, one in a westerly direction (towards Dufferin St.), and one in a southerly direction (towards Davenport Rd.)

The basement houses the departments of Visual Arts and Technological Design, as well as the school's athletic facilities: two gymnasia, a smaller "games room" used for intramural sports, a pool with a viewing gallery, and a weight room.

During the last stretch of the Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae, Oakwood was next on the list of schools to be renovated, directly after Riverdale Collegiate Institute. After Rae had lost the 1993 provincial elections to the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario under Mike Harris, the plans for renovation were scrapped. Among them were plans for a re-orientation of the auditorium (which would face east, not south), and an orchestra pit.

[edit] Departments

Oakwood's departments can be roughly grouped into a few faculties:

[edit] Arts

  • History
  • Civic, Political & Legal Education
  • Geography
  • Canadian & World Studies
  • Religious Studies
  • Anthropology, Sociology & Psychology (grouped as one course)
  • English Studies (including Media Studies and Creative Writing courses)

[edit] Fine Arts

  • Music
    • Band, Strings, Vocal
  • Dramatic Arts/Theatre
  • Dance
  • Visual Arts

[edit] Science & Technology

  • Biology (including Biological Sciences in Society)
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Physical Education, Health Studies
  • Technological Design
  • Comuputer Science/Information Technology
  • Mathematics (Introductory Mathematics, Calculus, Discrete Mathematics, Algebra & Geometry)

[edit] Modern Languages

[edit] Business

  • Economics
  • Accouting
  • Marketing
  • Entrepreneurial Studies

[edit] Schedule

Contrary to an increasing number of schools in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the school is non-semestered; in other words, a course runs for a full-year for a shorter amount of time. Oakwood follows a four-day "block" cycle, although due to its status as a non-semestered school, classes are shorter and occur more frequently. Classes, and occasionally, sections of classes, are assigned a letter of the alphabet (a "block"), from A through H. During that block, a student goes to the class assigned the letter.

The cycle goes through four distinct "day" patterns, with each block occurring three out of every four days. The first day of the week is repeated on Friday: if Monday is a Day 2, Friday will also be a Day 2 schedule, and the following Monday will be a Day 3.


Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
Period 1 A A A D
Period 2 B D C B
Period 3 C B D C
Lunch
Period 4 E F G H
Period 5 H G E F
Period 6 G H F E


A Block "A" class is given a homeform code based on the grade level of the course. For instance, a Grade 11 Biology class in Block "A" might be 11B; a Grade 10 History class might be 10E; and so on. Since students are generally permitted to enroll in courses that are above or below their grade level, their homeform code may not correspond to their actual grade. Students with no class assigned to Block "A" are in homeform 12X. This is sometimes written as 11X by Grade 11 students with a Block "A" spare.

Students in Grades 9 and 10 are not permitted to have spares.

Each period lasts approximately 50 minutes during a regularly-scheduled day. Days that do not fit the regular pattern have modified period starting and ending times. There is an Assembly Schedule (an extended Block A); an Early Close schedule; a Late Opening Schedule; and Extended Lunch schedules during special events held at lunch. Special Schedules that do not fit any pattern are announced in advance.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Oakwood is home to a wide number of clubs and services available to students.

[edit] Voices

Voices is Oakwood's student newspaper. Articles, as well as stories, poetry, and comics, are submitted by student writers to be published in the paper. Various departmental newsletters exist to inform students of developments in each departments. Messages from the school's administration are handed out in a student's homeform class.

[edit] Athletics

Oakwood is home to the Barons and the Lady Barons sports teams. The school has traditionally performed in soccer, rugby, basketball, field hockey, synchronized swimming, and archery. The school is home to several intramural leagues (i.e. students against students), including basketball and floor hockey. Athletic teams are managed by the department of Physical Education, the Girls' Athletic Association (GAA) and the Boys' Athletic Association (BAA).

[edit] Student government

Government is provided by the student organization Caput. Caput is the Latin word for "leader" or "captain." There are six positions available: The President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the Social Convenor are all elected by students in the spring. The five elected students are responsible for electing a sixth student to the position of Executive Member.

[edit] Concerts

Music students put on several performances a year: two main ones in November and April, jazz concerts throughout the year, and a Chamber Concert for senior students who perform concerti on their instrument. This is also an opportunity for senior students to organize and perform their own musical acts. Concerts traditionally end with a singing of the school song.

[edit] School song

OCI! OCI!
We will fight with all our might
Until we die;
Let us sing, our voices ring:
Never give up, always look up
To victory!

Stand right up and cheer!
Victory is near!
Let the colours fly,
We will always try,
To win for OCI.

(chanted)
We are! We are! We are for OCI!
We can! We can! Do anything we try!
We'll fight! We'll fight! We'll fight until we die, for
O-A-K-W-O-O-D!
Yeah, Oakwood!

[edit] Trips

Various departments co-ordinate trips to international locations in order to enhance students' knowledge of the subject they are studying. Previous locations have included Beijing, China; Los Angeles, California; Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; Paris, France; Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czech Republic; New York City, New York; and Chicago, Illinois. Particularly within the Music Department, teachers keep the location of trips a well-guarded secret until it has been largely planned.

[edit] External links

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