| Bell High School | |
| Vitam Impendere Vero Seek truth in life |
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| Address | |
| 40 Cassidy Road Ottawa, Ontario, K2H 6K1, Canada |
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| Public transit access | OC Transpo: Chartered "600" Series, or 166, 118, 69 (Peak Periods only) |
| Information | |
| School board | Ottawa Carleton District School Board |
| Principal | Bruce Whitehead |
| Vice principal | Darryl Kicul, Krista McNamara |
| Staff | ~80 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Language | English, French |
| Area | Nepean, Ottawa |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Mascot | Bruin |
| Team name | Bell Bruins |
| Colours | Red, Black and White |
| Newspaper | GloBELL Roar Newspaper [1] |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Enrolment | 1040 (2010-2011) (2010-2011) |
| Communities served | Nepean, Rest of Ottawa for Gifted Education |
| Homepage | http://www.bellhs.net/ |
Bell High School is a high school located in Bells Corners of Ottawa, Canada. Established in 1962 by the Carleton Board of Education as a public high school, it currently serves as one of the only two facilities with the prestigious OCDSB Gifted Program.[1] It also offers a comprehensive French Immersion and ESL program in addition to the normal academic program.[2]
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The school consists of roughly 50% students from local districts as well as another 50% from other districts who transfer in order to attend its Gifted Program, French Immersion Program or ESL program.
Academically, Bell has one of the highest university placement rates in Ottawa. Virtually all students of its gifted program and a plurality in the academic program enter respectable university programs in Canada or internationally. Students often go to the local Carleton University and University of Ottawa, with others going to Queen’s University, McGill University, University of Waterloo or University of British Columbia in Canada. Some graduates go to the United States; in the past students have gone to Yale University and Harvard University.
Bell High School also offers comprehensive French Immersion studies for students wishing to pursue accreditation and fluency in French as well as a full range of Advance Placement courses and examinations for those whom wish to attain university credits during high school. AP Courses offered include [3]: Physics B, Calculus, English Literature, French, Macroeconomics and Studio Arts.
Beyond special academic curriculum, Bell High School offers a diverse and extensive range of academic studies. Reinforced by its excellent educational infrastructure and exceptional staff to student ratio of 13.3 (~1000 students to ~80 staff), Bell High School students almost always performs exceptionally in national mathematics, biology and business competitions. In the University of Waterloo Math Competitions, Bell has consistently ranked within the top 50 schools in the nation.[4]
To enforce Bell’s academic reputation, it is not uncommon for its students to travel across the nation to visit various institutions for enrichment studies. Some examples include the Canadian Light Source synchrotron (a particle accelerator) in Saskatchewan,[5] Huntsman Marine Science Center,[6] the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo,[7] McGill University and the University of Toronto for its Model United Nations conferences.[8] Many of Bell's students have been selected to attend the prestigious Shad Valley summer enrichment program for excellence in science, math, business and engineering.[9]
Bell also has an international travels program which sends students across the world in order to broaden their horizon. Destinations include Continental Europe, Asia, Japan and the Galapagos Islands.
Bell High School is located on a spacious 25 ac (10 ha) campus, the school building itself is in the shape of the letter "E" and divided into several “wings”. Each wing contains the faculties of a different educational discipline, with Science, Mathematics and English and Social Studies each with their own wing. The school also has standard facilities, such as an art studio and cafeteria. Bell High School offers a large variety of educational infrastructure to enrich the studies of its students. This includes the active integration of technology (including projectors, four modern computer labs, and SmartBoards as well as a large range of physical infrastructure.
The school also has a two-storey library with computer access, a student services office, two music rooms, a drama studio, an extensive costume storage room, a dance studio, a drafting studio, a full-sized gym with bleachers, a greenhouse, an automotive garage, two construction workshops and indoor weight training and exercise facilities.
Because of the size of its campus, Bell High School offers a full range of sports amenities and well as a large degree of recreational green space. The school has two baseball diamonds, two full-sized soccer fields (one doubles a rugby field), an all season indoor hockey arena (The Bell Arena) and a 400 m gravel track either directly owned by the school or owned by the City of Ottawa immediately adjacent to the property.
Due to the large number of students attending Bell High School from other neighborhoods, a fleet of eight “600” series buses have been charted from the OC Transpo to run a custom route in order to transport students.[10]
Bell High School has an extremely active student population which hosts a huge variety of activities such as leadership camps (a massive 3 day affair involving more than 30% of the school population) to games and other fun events. An elected Students' Council holds this event, as well as World Vision's 30 Hour Famine, and other events for charity and awareness.
Beyond activities, Bell also engages extensively in fundraising efforts. Through these efforts, Bell has contributed significantly to the local community and even managed to construct a sister school in Kenya[11] which it maintains as a on-going humanitarian project. Other than its fundraisers and humanitarian projects, Bell High School also hosts a plethora of events to actively promote arts and culture, though performances, banquets and shows.
The students of Bell also run a diverse list of clubs from philanthropic organizations to academic groups. Among the list are Anime Club, A/V (Audio/Visual) Crew, BISA (Bell Islamic Students' Association), Breakfast Club (Bell's Christian group), Chess Club, Community Science Club, Debate Club, the GloBELL Roar Newspaper, GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance), Interact Club (Part of Rotary International), Key Club, OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving), Reach for the Top (placing first nationally in 1993), the University Math Club and a host of others.[12]
Bell is also known for its exceptional drama program, consistently earning recognitions at the annual Sears Ontario Drama Festival. The 2008 production, "Whitechapel," was published in "Festival Voices," an anthology of plays written by students and teachers for the Festival. Bell also has an annual musical production which has been regarded by local media as professional quality for its outstanding production values.[13] It is also consistently recognized by “The Cappies” for its excellence in the field.
Bell High School has a large roster of sport teams which participate in all fashions of sports under the Bell Bruin name (the mascot of the school, a bear). Out of its roster, Bell particularly excels at rugby, basketball,[14] badminton, wrestling and track and field, frequently qualifying for nationals and Pan-American level competitions.
The teams offered by Bell High School (all teams have male and female divisions) include: soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, field hockey, rugby, cross country running, Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing, hockey, track and field, curling, baseball, wrestling and swimming. In 2010, badminton players from Bell earned two OFSAA provincial gold titles and a silver title in an unprecedented performance by one school.[15]
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