Cawthra Park Secondary School

Infobox_Education_in_Canada
name= Cawthra Park Secondary School
motto= "Learning the art of Living...Living the art of Learning"
streetaddress= 1305 Cawthra Road
city= Mississauga
province= Ontario
postalcode= L5G 4L1
areacode= 905
phone= 274-1271
fax= 274-9370
url= http://www.cawthrapark.com
schoolnumber= 899003
schoolboard= Peel District School Board
superintendent=Patricia Rossall
trustee= Janet McDougald
affiliation= Public
principal= Jane Michalak
colours= Purple, orange, and white
viceprincipal= Anne McKenzie
Catherine McGrann
schooltype= High school
grades= 9-12
language= English
founded= 1972
enrollment= 1,375
enrollment_as_of= June 2006

Cawthra Park Secondary School, also known as CP or CPSS, is a public high school located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Cawthra Park provides instruction to students from grades 9 to 12 and is under the juristriction of the Peel District School Board.

Built in 1972, Cawthra Park has unique features for a public school, including a newly renovated auditorium, a recently redone gymnasium floor, Harlequin-sprung floors in the dance studios, grand pianos and music practice rooms, and a dark room. The school is also attached to the Cawthra Swimming Pool. The rough, "inside-out" walls are affectionately referred to as "cheesegrater walls" as many a hand have been cut on the sharp brick.

The school day begins at 8:30AM and ends at 3:04PM. There are five 75-minute periods each day, including two lunch periods. It is a semestered school.

Arts

Cawthra Park is home to Peel's Regional Arts Program (RAP), for which students audition to study music (instrumental [concert band, guitar, and piano] or vocal), dance, dramatic arts or visual arts. Approximately two-thirds of Cawthra's students are in the RAP program, with the remaining students coming from the local area.

The school also puts on a fall musical and a spring play annually.

Music

The music department boasts 12 different ensembles, which are either open to the entire school or require an audition. All auditioned groups, excluding the Senior Wind Ensemble and Cawthra Park Rock (CPR) are credit courses, meaning that students will be tested regularly on repertoire and have to complete extra written work, usually reflections, reviews on performances, and critiques on recordings.

Cawthra is known for its especially strong music department. The department has performed during the past four years including mass at the Vatican City, onstage at Disney's Magic Kingdom, and for the American ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins.

Performing Groups

~ indicates repertoire ensemble, allowing students to receive a credit for their participation in the course.

*Choirs

"Chamber Choir"- The Cawthra Park Chamber Choir, directed by Robert Anderson was featured in the Spring of 2006 on CBC Radio's national Choral Competition. They placed 2nd overall in their category. In November 2006, the Chamber Choir was invited to sing at the annual University Voices, a prestigious university level choral workshop, directed by Martin Neary.

"Les Belles Classiques"- Conducted by Sherri Collins, this senior level, auditioned SSA choir of approximately 35 is also one of Cawthra's repertoire courses.

"The Ritz" - Directed by Robert Anderson, the Ritz is a mixed, mass choir with 350+ singers ranging from grade 9-12 from all grades and departments and is known as the largest competitive high school choir in North America.

"Intermediate Girls Choir"-This group is made up of girls in grades nine and ten. It rehearses once a week in the auditorium. It is conducted by Ms Jody Malone.

*Jazz Ensembles

"Tranzzit"- Tranzzit is an elite senior vocal jazz group of 12 vocalists and rhythm section, conducted by Ms J. Malone. The ensemble plays often in their community. Tranzzit is one of Cawthra's repertoire classes.

"Jazz Lab"- Directed by Andrew Jones, is the senior instrumental jazz band. It meets twice a week and is one of the repertoire classes.

"Momentum"- Is the junior level jazz band, conducted by Mrs. Joyce Wilson. Thegroup meets every Thursday afternoon.

"Jazz-a-Peel"-This is the junior level auditioned vocal jazz group, conducted by Mrs. Collins. The group meets every Tuesday afternoon.

*Concert Bands

"Senior Wind Orchestra"- Directed by Andrew Jones,(commonly referred to as Sr. Wind) This senior instrumental group is made up of auditioned members drawn from the Senior Band and is the premier instrumental group at Cawthra, performing pieces at the B500 and B600 levels, the highest level in competitive band music in Ontario. Prior to the 2007-2008 year, Sr. Wind was a repertoire course, allowing students to receive a credit for their participation in the course.

"Senior Band"- Our SENIOR BAND is composed of 80 instrumental performers from grades 10 to 12. The ensemble meets once a week, every Tuesday afternoon and is conducted by Mr. Andrew Jones.

"Intermediate Concert Band"- This group is made up of one hundred instrumental students in grades nine and ten. It meets once a week. It is conducted by Mrs. Linda Thornton.

Athletics

Cawthra is very involved in athletics as well, with boys and girls hockey, basketball, volleyball, badminton and soccer teams and an undefeated rugby team, along with several others. The popular joke among students is that the school's football equipment was sold in order to buy a grand piano. However, this myth has been debunked countless time by the administration.

The Cawthra Panthers Baseball Team won the 2007 ROPSSAA Tier 1 Baseball Championships for the first time in the schools history with a 6-2 win over Mount Carmel.

Notable Alumni

Past students of Cawthra Park include:
* Erica Peck, lead role in the musical We Will Rock You in Toronto
* J.D. Fortune, lead singer of INXS
* Jamie Richmond, Atlanta Braves draft pick (2004)
* Daria Werbowy, supermodel
* Blake McGrath, dancer, star of Dancelife, finalist on "So You Think You Can Dance" (season 1)
* Deanna Casaluce, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation
* Adamo Ruggiero, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation
* Amanda Stepto, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation
* Death from Above 1979, musicians
* David Bryant, guitarist for Godspeed you black emperor
* Dig Circus and The FemBots, musicans
* Drew McCreadie winner of Best Male Improvisor in Canada at the Canadian Comedy Awards.

External links

* [http://www.peel.edu.on.ca/schools/rapidfacts/cawthra.htm http://www.peel.edu.on.ca/schools/rapidfacts/cawthra.htm]
* [http://www.cawthrapark.com/ http://www.cawthrapark.com/]