Turner Fenton Secondary School | |
Address | |
7935 Kennedy Road South Brampton, Ontario, L6W 0A2, Canada |
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Information | |
School board | Peel District School Board |
Religious affiliation | Public |
Superintendent | Jan Courtin |
Area trustee | David Green Rick Williams |
Principal | Robert Rozario |
Vice principal | Terry Whitmell Deb Angela Adekunle Paul Hamilton Cathy Darmanin |
School type | high school |
Endowment | $1.4 million |
Grades | 9-12+ |
Language | English, Extended French |
Mascot | Trojans |
Team name | Turner Fenton Trojans |
Colours | Royal Blue, Black, White and Silver |
Founded | 1993 merger (1972, 1974) |
Enrolment | 2250 [1] (September 2010) |
Homepage | http://www.turnerfenton.com/ |
Turner Fenton Secondary School is the Peel District School board's largest high school, and the fourth largest school in Peel region, located in Brampton, Ontario. The principal is Robert Rozario. It operates under the Peel District School Board, and is credited as one of the highest funded schools in Ontario, with an endowment of $1.4 million.
Feeder schools include Fletcher's Creek Sr. Public School and William G. Davis Sr. Public School.
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Turner Fenton is a diverse school, even by Greater Toronto Area standards, due to the varied array of programs it offers. At least eleven educational programs are available:
The school also works with the William Osler Campus, a Peel Board facility for those admitted to hospital for terms longer than 14 days. Turner offers a Learning Strategies Course, and Specific Learning Disabilities services. A Regional Enhanced Program program ran at the school, until the end of the 2004-2005 school year. The school also offers a number of different beneficial programs, including an International Baccalaureate Program. Turner Fenton was the largest high school in Ontario as of 2006.
Turner Fenton graduates have been revered for their academic excellence. Many alumni have sought admission into some of the most prestigious and reputable colleges and universities worldwide, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, University of California, Berkeley, and McGill University just to name a few.
Turner Fenton participates in Model UN events, in 2005 representing Cambodia and Kenya, and in 2006 representing The United States of America. In previous years, the school represented China, France, and Somalia. Turner Fenton consistently places high among Ontario schools for fundraising for the Terry Fox Run, although its totals are often eclipsed by one of its "feeder" schools, W.G. Davis Senior Public School, which, in 2005, raised over $23,000 from a school population of just over 550. Turner Fenton also prides on its involvement with DECA: An Association of Marketing Students, competing at regionals, provincials, and even at the international level, at the annual International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
Due to its proximity to the recently constructed Powerade Centre, the OHL's Brampton Battalion hockey team members who have not yet completed high school are assigned to this school during the hockey season, returning to their home schools afterwards.
In recent years, Turner Fenton has started a pilot project, serving various communities in East Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This mission provides the opportunity to twenty students on a biannual basis to travel halfway across the world and experience first-hand the social, political, and cultural differences in these rural communities. Previously, they have worked restoring old schoolhouses, teaching classes, volunteering at orphanages, and most importantly, increasing self-sufficiency in these communities.
The Turner Fenton cross country team, has won twelve consecutive ROPSSAA championships in the "overall team" division. The badminton team has won a total of four medals in the 2005 season. The girls doubles team has won ROPSSAA gold in 2007 and in 2009 both the girls double and the girls single team won silver and gold respectively, hence making OFSAA. The boys Lacrosse team won the 2006 ROPSSAA championships and went on to appear the OFSAA finals in St. Catharines, Ontario. Also the boys Baseball Team and Soccer Team won 2006 ROPSSAA TIER II Championships. In 2006, The boys junior Cricket Team came runners up at ROPSSAA, losing to Woodlands Secondary School in a tightly fought match. During the Late 80's and early 90s, the Trojan football teams placed well in the Peel Gridiron. The school's archery team had also performed at high levels in both ROPSSAA and OFSAA tournaments winning first place on multiple occasions. The wrestling team has won 5 straight ROPSSAA overall titles. along with a few OFSAA placings. The team won the 2009 ROPSAA team titles (boy girls and overall) as well as the 2009 OFSAA Championships with the overall and boys title. The team had 3 gold medals, 1 silver, 1 4th place, and 2 5th place finishes.
Turner Fenton hosts an annual event, Trojanfest, assembling local aspiring bands in a one night performance for the school. Providing an event for aspiring bands, and venue for those who wish to see the acts, Trojanfest has become a Turner Fenton tradition. Other traditional events include Bistro Shows (hosted by the IAC) and Turner's Got Talent. The two events have spawned acts from numerous students of the school. The Integrated Arts Council also hosts the annual "Arts Banquet" which features performances from many of the musical and dramatic acts from around the school.
CultureFest is an annual event held at Turner Fenton Secondary School. The festival is entirely student-run and comprises live performances, educational booths and workshops, as well as a marketplace of international foods spread over two days and one community night. The festival has existed under a number of names over since its inception and was most recently stylized as "CultureFest," with a distinctive capitalization of the second component of the word.
Every year, CultureFest assumes a specific festival theme or focus. The latest incarnation was the "Five Continents, One Vision." theme for the 2007 festival, which took place on April 22, 2008 and April 23, 2008. Last year, CultureFest was profiled by several prominent media agencies, including the CBC, the Brampton Guardian, and Rogers Cable. A videorecording of CultureFest 2007 is available here OR here. A videorecording of CultureFest 2008 is available here.
Throughout the school year, many students are actively involved in a variety of different leadership conferences. Turner Fenton student runs the annual START (Students: The Active Risk-Takers) conference, a 2-day event that takes place in November of each year, that is open to all Peel high school students. Moreover, the IB (International Baccalaureate) students of the school run the annual one-day Mentorship Conference (IBMC) in September of every year, introducing the new Grade 9 MYP (Middle Years Programme) students to the high school atmosphere. Turner Fenton students are also recognized for their high involvement in the Peel Student Presidents' Council, whether students are executives on the council itself or take part in the yearly leadership conference as delegates, security or leadership developers.
Before, the school also had major involvement within the SOAR (Suddenly/Student Opportunities are Reachable) conference, intended for middle school students around the area, until lack of teacher support lead to its cancellation.
Turner Fenton's active robotics team has participated in Canada and US FIRST competitions.
Turner Fenton Secondary School is composed of two buildings, dubbed North Hall and South Hall. Until 1992, the two buildings were each schools in their own right, the North being J. A. Turner SS, and the South being W. J. Fenton SS. W. J. Fenton was the first of the two to open in 1972, built by Val Mitchell Construction. C.A. Smith built J. A. Turner Secondary in 1974. Both buildings were designed by architect Don E. Skinner Thughliphe.
The rooms of the "new" North Hall are numbered 100s and 200s on the first floor and second floor, respectively; the South Hall rooms are numbered 300s on the first floor and 400s on the second floor. The portables are 500s. Each faculty department generally has its own section of the school. English, Math, Science, Business/Tech, the Library and Main Administration are in the North building. History, Moderns (French and other language studies), Geography, Arts (Dramatic, Visual, Digital, Culinary and Cosmetic). Some exceptions do apply however: Music classes are located in the North Hall although part of an integrated Arts department. Similarly, Biology classes are in the South Building. Administrative offices are split between the two buildings, with certain Vice Principals and Guidance Counselors located specifically in the South hall. The school also has two cafeterias, the North Hall cafeteria being the larger of the two. Additionally, as the South Hall was equipped to serve Culinary arts teaching, the cafeteria in the South Hall allows students to make/serve food.
Following the merger of the schools in 1992, the school was referred to officially on its main outdoor signage as 'Turner Fenton Secondary School,' however had also adopted a secondary brand name 'Turner Fenton Campus' used on school letterhead. In the early-2000s, the school board forced Turner Fenton to standardize its name, because the school had not filed the proper forms upon its creation in 1992.
Some other changes were also made to the already large school. On September 2007, construction workers had fenced off an area between north hall and south hall to extend the school. Construction was coming to an end by the end of the 2007-2008 school year and on September 2, the new section was opened to all staff and students. The school now has new lab rooms and English classrooms. As well, math teachers were upgraded to a newer and much larger office to accommodate all the teachers. The newer division also came with two new staircases and a beautiful large window from one of the staircases that looks onto the parking lot. In addition, trees and plants were also added to the parking lot and the side of the school to make it more appealing. This makes the school larger than before and almost impossible to see all your friends on your walk to class.
On January 11th 2011, a stabbing occurred, sending one sixteen year old male to Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, and 3 suspects to custody, one of which also sustained minor injuries. The victim sustained stab wounds to the head and neck. Police are currently investigating this incident.
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