Northumberland Regional High School

Northumberland Regional High School (NRHS) is a Canadian secondary school located in Alma, Nova Scotia.

Students that attend the school come from the western part of Pictou County, including the towns of Stellarton, and Westville.

The school is administratively part of the "Celtic Region" in the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board. Its official colours are red, white and black and the mascot is a Nighthawk nicknamed "Squawk". The sports teams from NRHS are called the Northumberland Nighthawks.^[1]

History

Northumberland Regional officially opened on November 25, 2004. It is one of three high schools of Pictou County, Nova Scotia (the other being North Nova Education Centre and Pictou Academy). It replaced West Pictou District High School, Stellarton High School, and Westville High School. NRHS has approximately 991^[1] students from grades 9-12. Its student body is drawn from three schools Highland Consolidated Middle School, West Pictou Consolidated School,and River John Consolidated School .

Curriculum

NRHS offers a wide variety of courses to its student body, with about 130 courses (excluding grade 9 and OPP courses). These courses include math (essentials-, foundations-, academic-, and advanced-level; this includes calculus), sciences (chemistry, physics, biology, etc), languages (English and French), fine arts and technology (drama, visual arts, film and video, communications technology, etc), and phys ed (mostly introduced in 2008; phys ed yoga, phys ed leadership). Also, NRHS has the Occupational Preparation Program (OPP) which offers courses to introduce students directly to industries such as food services, auto care, forestry, and retail; although this program is considered an alternative to academic courses, many students that complete the program go to university.^[2] NRHS primarily focuses on maths and sciences over fine arts.

International Baccalaureate

NRHS is the first, and currently only, school in Pictou County to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. It officially became an IB World School on April 21, 2007. This programme is a rigorous university preparedness programme. It is internationally accepted as a standard of education. NRHS offers the diploma programme in English and Immersion-level (high level) French. In September 2007, roughly 40 students started the IB Diploma Programme. Before students enter the IB programme, it's recommended they take NRHS' "Pre-IB" programme. This is basically an advanced version of the standard grade 10 curriculum.

Facilities

The NRHS campus is located just outside Westville, Nova Scotia. Its facilities include:

• over one hundred classrooms some of which contain SmartBoards,the others equipped with overhead projectors linked to the teachers main computer,
• several chemistry labs,
• an automotive lab (used for OPP),
• a retail store (also for OPP),
• a kitchen (also for OPP),
• a 350-seat theater/auditorium,

• four major computer labs (including a lab specifically for film editing),
• four smaller computer labs called "pods",

• seminar room fully equipped with computers,
• a large library with an attached seminar room,
• an outdoor classroom which is commonly used in spring time,
• a weights room which many students use on there extra time,
• a large gymnasium, and
• a teen health centre (with a public health nurse).

Extra-Curricular activities

Students' Council

NRHS has an active Students' Council with over 80 members who raise a large amount of money each year for the school community. The Students' Council funds sports facilities, supports dances and many other events held throughout the school year.

The Students' Council is voluntary and is administered by an executive featuring two co-presidents (elected by the student population) as well as several committee heads and a staff adviser. The executive handles the major decision making of the council and keeps track of finances. The executive also discusses, approves, or declines fundraising proposals for various sports teams and other activities, as well as the formation of new clubs and committees.

Clubs, committees, and sports

NRHS offers many extra-curricular activities, such as: Communications, Interact, Yearbook (part of the Publishing 12 course), and Environmental club among many more. NRHS also has many sports teams, including: rugby, basketball, hockey, volleyball, cross-country running, track and soccer.

References

External links

• NRHS Website
• Official Opening of NRHS