Turner Fenton Secondary School

Turner Fenton Secondary School

Remis velisque
Address
7935 Kennedy Road South
Brampton, Ontario, L6W 0A2
Canada
Information
School type high school
Founded 1992 merger (1972, 1974)
School board Peel District School Board
Superintendent Hazel Mason
Area trustee Kathy McDonald
Rick Williams
School number 918440
Principal Michelle Stubbings
Vice principal Ben Keeley
Laura Garner
Paul Hamilton
Sue Laidlaw
Grades 9-12+
Enrollment 2004[1] (March 24, 2015)
Language English, Extended French
Colour(s) Royal Blue, Black, White and Silver                 
Team name Trojans
Newspaper Turneround (1977–2014)[2]
Trojan Times (2014–)[3]
Endowment $1.4 million
Website www.turnerfenton.com

Turner Fenton Secondary School is the Peel District School board's largest high school in Peel region, located in Brampton, Ontario. The principal is Michelle Stubbings. 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 (schools in the Turner Fenton family of schools) include Peel Alternative School North (formerly IndEC North), Cherrytree Public School, Fletcher's Creek Sr. Public School, Helen Wilson Public School, Hickory Wood Public School, Parkway Public School, Sir Wilfrid Laurier Public School and William G. Davis Sr. Public School.[4]

Programs

Turner Fenton Secondary School is known for its exceptionally high academic standards, with consistently high rankings on standardized provincial tests.

Turner, as it is commonly referred to, is a diverse school, even by Greater Toronto Area standards, due to the varied array of programs it offers. The following educational programs are available:[5]

Until the end of the 2004-2005 school year, the Regional Enhanced Program was also available for students in grades 11 and 12 at Turner Fenton.

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 Fenton graduates have been revered for their academic excellence. Many alumni have gained admission into some of the most prestigious and reputable colleges and universities worldwide, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Princeton University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, McGill University and University of Waterloo, and into various competitive national programs such as The Next 36 and other youth forums and programs.

International Baccalaureate

Turner Fenton offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) for grade 9 and 10 students and the IB Diploma Programme (DP) for grade 11 and 12 students. The MYP, based on similar principles as the DP, is offered as preparation for the DP, requiring students to engage in the study of languages, sciences, mathematics, and humanities all in an attempt for them to recognize not only the individuality of each of the disciplines but also to understand the co-relation between them. The DP is a globally recognized program that fully prepares students for university. Not only does the IB Programme promote highly educated students, but it also encourages globally aware and involved individuals. From 2009, Turner Fenton's DP students have displayed considerable academic excellence with students topping in the Peel District School Board nearly every year with a 100% average.[6]

The admission process into the IB program at Turner Fenton Secondary School is highly selective. Students from more than 100 elementary schools all over Brampton apply for the rigorous high school program. In 2014, the application includes basic identification information, previous report cards and an online written response about an extracurricular activity and its demonstration of an IB Learner Profile attribute.[7] Students from across the Peel District School Board apply to be a part of the program but only around 150 students are accepted each year. MYP students feed directly into the Diploma Programme in grade 11.

Turner Fenton is consistently one of the best IB schools in the region and country with two students receiving a perfect 45 score in prior examinations.

Sports, clubs, and traditions

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 Student Activity Council (SAC)

The Turner Fenton Student Activity Council (SAC) is essentially the student council of the school. Each year, students are elected to become an executive member of the club by fellow students themselves. The SAC organizes all social events and spirit days within the school and work towards representing the voice of the student body. Apart from the executive committee, there is also the general council that students apply to be a part of. Social events hosted by the SAC in recent years include:

Athletic Council Executive (ACE)

Similar to the SAC, the Athletic Council Executive also hosts various spirit days and events, but primarily focuses on athletic activities. Students also have to apply to become an executive member. The ACE also organizes and helps out with sporting events that take place at the school. Events hosted by the Athletic Council include:

The Integrated Arts Council (IAC)

The IAC is a student-run club that focuses on nearly all visual art activities within the school as well as other art forms. Likewise to other clubs, the IAC has executive members as well as general members. The IAC is divided into various committees that focus on a certain aspect of the club. For example, the Mural Committee creates murals across school walls to represent activities and events within the school. Their most recent creation is a mural outside of the North Cafeteria that incorporates various clubs into one. Currently, a new mural is being developed near the school bistro. In addition to this, the IAC also hosts events such as Bistro Shows that allow students to showcase their talent.

Chess Team

In most recent years, Turner Fenton Secondary School exploded on the chess arena in the year 2011-2012. Under new management, under equipped, under supplied and under funded, the chess team went against all odds and participated in three different chess tournaments on three different levels. The accomplishments of this club included:

The Chess team currently is undergoing new management and is seeking for new ways of improvement. The club is currently planning in the near future to establish a democratic chess council within the school.

Athletics

Achievements

The Turner Fenton cross country team has won twelve consecutive ROPSSAA championships in the "overall team" division. In 1994, the Junior Boys team won silver at the OFSAA X-Country Championships in Ancaster. 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 won seven 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 three gold medals, two 4th place, and two 5th place finishes. The Turner Fenton Wrestling Team also became the first team in the history of ROPSSAA to win all 5 ROPSSAA titles 2 years in a row - Junior Boys and Girls, and Senior Boys, Girls and Overall in 2011 and 2012.

Teams/Clubs

Music

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. In addition to this, the Turner Fenton Music Council also hosts various "Chamber Nights" throughout the school year that allow students from music classes and soloists to showcase their talent. Turner Fenton also has various clubs associated with music, ensembles and bands:

Culturefest

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.

Turner Fenton also hosts different cultural and ethnic groups. Turner Fenton has its very own Sikh Activist Network (SAN)[8] chapter here at Turner Fenton, and it also hosts the Turner Fenton Tamil Association.[9] Both of these groups enlighten students with cultural diversities and hope to empower youth in becoming active cultural members in school and in society.

Every year, CultureFest assumes a specific festival theme or focus. The 2008 incarnation was "Five Continents, One Vision.", which took place on April 22 and 23. Last year, CultureFest was profiled by several prominent media agencies, including the CBC, the Brampton Guardian, and Rogers Cable. Video recordings of CultureFest 2008 are available by clicking on the following footnotes.[10][11][12]

CultureFest 2014 marked unprecedented success and support within the Turner Fenton community. Videos of CultureFest 2014 performances are available in the following playlist.[13]

Conferences

Throughout the school year, many students are actively involved in a variety of different leadership conferences. Turner Fenton students runs the annual START (Students: The Active Risk-Takers) conference, a 2-day event in November 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.

The SOAR (Suddenly Opportunities Are Reachable) conference, which is a leadership conference for Peel middle-school students in grades 7 and 8, is also organized by Turner Fenton students.[14] Due to lack of positive response from teachers, the conference temporarily stopped taking place. However, in 2012, the conference was restarted and took place at W. G. Davis Sr. Public School, a feeder school for Turner Fenton. Because Ontario high school teachers protested against Bill 115 by not leading extracurricular activities, the conference did not take place in 2013 either. Since 2014, the SOAR conference has been taking place again at Turner Fenton.[14][15]

In December 2014, Turner Fenton hosted its first French conference Imaginons le Français, promoting francophone culture.[16]

Turner Fenton Robotics Team

Turner Fenton's active robotics team has participated in Canada and US FIRST competitions.

DECA

Turner Fenton also has an elite DECA chapter with members ranking highly in the Regional, Provincial and International levels. The DECA Regionals take place in the month of November. Students who succeed in the Regionals move to the next stage which is known as DECA Provincials. Provincials take place in the month of February and takes place in the Sheraton Hotel. each year students from TFSS DECA attain top places in their respective chapters and move to the final stage; the Internationals where they represent Canada. TFSS DECA prepares its students by providing the essential skill sets to perform at each stage of DECA.[17]

History

Turner Fenton Secondary School is composed of two buildings, called the North Hall and the 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. The English, math, science, business/technology and music departments, as well as the library and main administration, are in the North Hall. The history, moderns (French and other language studies), geography, arts (dramatic, visual, digital, culinary and cosmetic) departments are in the South Building. However, there are exceptions, such as certain biology classes that are taught in the South Hall. Administrative offices are split between the two buildings, with certain vice principals and guidance counsellors located specifically in the South Hall. Each building also has a cafeteria, 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," but it 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 and South Halls to extend the school. Construction came 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 new 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.

On January 11, 2011, a stabbing occurred at the school, sending one sixteen-year-old male to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto and three suspects to custody, one of which also sustained minor injuries. The victim sustained stab wounds to the head and neck. The police have been investigating this incident.[18]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". Turner Fenton Secondary School. Peel District School Board. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "Turneround E-zine". Turneround E-zine. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "November Issue 2014". TFSS Trojan Times. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Families of Schools 2014-15". Peel District School Board. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Turner Fenton Secondary School" (PDF). Peel District School Board. Peel District School Board. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Rushowy, Kristin (10 July 2014). "6 students score 100% averages at the same Brampton high school". Toronto Star (Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.). Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "International Baccalaureate Programme (IB): MYP and DP at Turner Fenton Secondary School" (PDF). International Baccalaureate - Turner Fenton Secondary School. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  8. ↑ http://www.citysikhs.org.uk/about-us/british-sikhs/
  9. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV1GR4CxgYM
  10. ↑ "TFSS Culturefest 2007 - YouTube". Video.google.ca. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  11. ↑ "EUROPEAN Dance 2...". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  12. ↑ "CF2008 - Middle Eastern Part 1 in HD". YouTube. 2008-04-25. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuhZ7v65U27lDZea-FUwqWzeVtVItZsrk
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "What is SOAR?". SOAR Conference. Soar Legacy. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Whiteside, Kyle; Sreerangan, Pooja. "Suddenly Opportunities Are Reachable Volunteer Application" (PDF). Turner Fenton Secondary School. Peel District School Board. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Imaginons les Francais [sic] 2014". TFSS Trojan Times (Winter Issue 2015): 3. February 23, 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Teens display business knowledge". BramptonGuardian Article. 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  18. ↑ Johnson, Bryon (12 January 2011). "Teens charged after stabbing". Brampton Guardian (Metroland Media). Retrieved 9 April 2015.

External links

Coordinates: 43°40′31″N 79°43′10″W / 43.675384°N 79.719329°W