Semiahmoo Secondary School

Semiahmoo Secondary School
Address
1785 148th Street
Surrey, British Columbia
Canada
Coordinates 49°02′06″N 122°48′49″W / 49.0349°N 122.81364°W / 49.0349; -122.81364Coordinates: 49°02′06″N 122°48′49″W / 49.0349°N 122.81364°W / 49.0349; -122.81364
Information
Type Public School
Motto "Semiahmoo...We are the future"
Established 1940
School district School District 36 Surrey
Principal Ms. Claudine Davies
Faculty 96
Enrollment Regular: 1500
IB Program: 200 Full Diploma, 150 partial
Color(s) Royal blue and white, with red as an accent.
Team name Totems
Newspaper Totem Times
Affiliation IB World School
Website www.semi.sd36.bc.ca

Semiahmoo Secondary School (/ˌsɛmiˈɑːmoʊ/ SEM-ee-AH-moh) is a public high school in South Surrey, British Columbia, and is part of School District 36 Surrey. Founded in 1940 as the first senior secondary school in South Surrey, Semiahmoo spans Grades eight through twelve. The school currently has a student population of 1481 and a faculty of 96, and is headed by Principal Claudine Davies.[1]

Semiahmoo is one of three public high schools on the peninsula, along with Earl Marriott Secondary School towards the border crossing, and Elgin Park Secondary School towards Ocean Park.

History

Semiahmoo Secondary was built in the city of White Rock in the late 1930s, becoming the area's first secondary school. The former building, now cleared, stood where White Rock Elementary School stands today. When White Rock Junior Secondary was built in 1961 on Oxford Street, Semiahmoo was officially renamed Semiahmoo Senior Secondary. A severe classroom shortage in the 1980s, started by a fire in White Rock Junior Secondary, prompted an effort by the provincial ministry of education to expand educational facilities in South Surrey. In 1990, Semiahmoo was transferred to the newly renovated and expanded White Rock Junior facilities, officially becoming Semiahmoo High School.

Academics

International Baccalaureate (IB)

Semiahmoo is an internationally successful IB World School, with an IB exam average of 36 diploma points equating to a 96% average. The IB program has provided an opportunity for Semiahmoo students to go directly into medicine and law in the UK. This school has the international recognition of being one of the few schools in the world to have three Blyth Cambridge Scholarship winners in a row. Semiahmoo's Physics Team won the UBC Provincial Physics Competition for the last two years. Semiahmoo Secondary School has been an IB World School since June 1980. Surrey students are permitted to cross school boundaries to enter International Baccalaureate Diploma. Approximately 300 students in Grades 11 & 12 are enrolled in the IB Program. Students apply to the program in the Grade 10 year by sending in the completed application package which can be found on the school website.

Extracurricular activities

Music

Semiahmoo Secondary School is known for its music program, with a forte in jazz.[2] Almost all of Semi's instrumental music ensembles are full courses in the school timetable. The Grade 11 and 12 jazz bands and soloists travel to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival annually. Another jazz festival that Semiahmoo attends is the Surrey Schools Festival (formerly Envision Jazz Festival) in Surrey, B.C.

Also notable is Semi's recent success at MusicFest Canada 2008 in Ottawa. Three of Semi's Jazz Band 12 members were included as part of the Canada-wide Yamaha Allstar Jazz Band.[3] Semiahmoo ensembles have won several awards at MusicFest Canada in addition to numerous individual scholarships given out to students who demonstrate musical excellence.

Band and Music Directors

The Semiahmoo music program's rise to fame was created by David Proznick (retired in 2003). In 2003, Proznick won the Keith Mann Outstanding Band Director Award. This honour is a memorial plaque given to one director annually in all of Canada. Dave Fullerton (retired in 2012), also won the Outstanding Band Director Award in 2011 for his involvement in MusicFest making Semiahmoo the only school in all of Canada to have two of their band directors win this prestigious honour.

The department is currently headed by Dagan Lowe, a 1997 graduate of the school, with aid from Kevin Lee and Sarah Kennedy. Semi also has three concert bands, six jazz bands, and several extracurricular jazz combos, which include Grade 9-12 combos, and even Grade 8 combos.

Visual Art

Semiahmoo has one of the most prolific visual art programs in the province. More students are accepted into the Emily Carr University of Art and Design from Semiahmoo each year.

Theatre

Semiahmoo houses a theatre that can hold approximately 20 people. Despite its small size, the program has produced two well-received musicals, Grease in 2004 and Fame in 2006. In addition, the senior grades perform various one-act plays, Shakespearean works, and improvisation sessions throughout the year.

Athletics

Semiahmoo is an athletics powerhouse with multiple Provincial banners in recent years. With a track, baseball field, all weather soccer fields and a rugby field, Semiahmoo has exceptional athletics facilities and programs led by Athletic Director, Steve Janzen.

Semiahmoo's Boys Volleyball won the Provincial Championship in 2010 and their coach, Kyra Iannone, won 2011 Coach of the Year.


Girls- The Senior Girls Rugby team has a well known reputation led by Head Coach David Kaye and have dominated the Semiahmoo Peninsula in its most recent years, being the 2016 Fraser Valley AAA Champions. The rivalry between Yale Secondary School 's Senior Girls Team and Semiahmoo is well known, having played against one another in the 2015 and 2016 Fraser Valley AAA Championships as well as 2015 and 2016 Provincial Championships. Multiple Team BC players over the years include Jodi-Ann Wang ( Kenyon College 2016 Scholarship recipient), Hera Sfikas ( University of British Columbia 2016 Scholarship recipient), Berlyn Seselja (Team Canada), Kate Richards, Anna Castillo, Rachel Cowan, Danica Foster etc.

Boys- In the past eighteen seasons, the Totems have won the Fraser Valley High School Championship (Sparling Cup) nine times and qualified for the Provincial Championship, in 1988, 1992, 1995, 2011 and 2012. They won the provincial tournament in 1988 and 1995. The school lost the Sandcastle Cup in 2011 to the Earl Marriott Mariners; A match held each year between the senior teams of Earl Marriott and Semiahmoo. The annual game draws nearly a thousand spectators each year. Unfortunately the Senior Boys Team was cut in its 2015-16 season due to lack of players.

Coach Glenda Bowman - 2016 Fraser Valley Overall Champions, Senior Girls and Junior Boys Champions - Swimmer Vicky Luan won a $250,000 scholarship to swim for Rochester in New York. Student Swim Coach, Kay Hung, and IB Honors Student Richard Wang won a full-ride scholarship to Stanford University.

2012 and 2013 Girls Cross-country Provincial Champions & 2013 National Champions

Outstanding Program & Coaches, Scott Yewchuk, Head Coach and Paisley Poelzer - Provincial Combined Champions 2015 Track & Field - 2014 & 2015 Provincial Junior Girls Champions, BC HS Championship Records set in Junior Girls 4x100 & 4x400 Gabrielle Hack, Alexa Porpaczy, Hailey Ribeiro & Jessica Williams, Track & Field - 2015 Three Time Gold Medalists - Jessica Williams and Alexa Porpaczy Track & Field - Sprinter, Jessica Williams, signed scholarships with UBC in 2017 for soccer and track and field Track & Field - Jumper, Gabrielle Hack, is Provincial Gold Medalist in Triple Jump Track & Field - High jumper - Alexa Porpaczy, two time Youth National Champion, 5 time Provincial Gold medalist, Bronze National 4x400 medalist Track & Field - 2016 Surrey Senior Boys and Grade 8 Boys Champions

BC Championships 1990 - 13th, BC Championships 1991 - 13th, BC Championships 2007 - 4th, BC Championships 2008 - 8th, BC Championships 2009 - 10th, BC Championships 2010 - 4th, BC Championships 2011 - 11t

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ https://www.surreyschools.ca/schools/semi/About/Administration/Pages/default.aspx
  2. ↑ http://www.semiahmoomusic.com/
  3. ↑ http://www.musicfest.ca/yas_musicians_e.asp?year=2010
  4. ↑ Biography Section
  5. ↑ "Hockey Canada Skills Academy - Semiahmoo" (pdf). Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  6. ↑ Glen Schaefer (June 19, 2011). "The Hero who would have been carpenter". The Province. Retrieved February 29, 2012. As a [...] White Rock teen who spent his time in the woodworking and auto mechanics shops at Semiahmoo secondary, actor Paul Campbell wasn't marked for stardom.
  7. ↑ CV Ardo Hansson
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