St. Andrew's College (Aurora, Ontario)

Infobox Education in Canada


motto = Quit ye like men, be strong
motto_translation =
established = 1899
type = Independent
affiliation = Non-Denominational Christian
endowment =
faculty =
principal = E.G. Staunton
visitor =
enrollment = 560
streetaddress =
city = Aurora
province = Ontario
postalcode =
campus =
colours = Red and white
mascot = Saints
url = [http://www.sac.on.ca/ www.sac.on.ca]

St. Andrew's College (known as S.A.C.) is a boys' independent school (grades 6-12) located in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1899. It is a university-preparatory school, with a focus on academic achievement, athletics, and leadership development. It is accredited by the Canadian Educational Standards Institute.

First situated in Toronto on land east of Old Yonge Street over to Bayview Avenue, the campus moved north to its current campus in Aurora in 1924. The school has a convert|110|acre|km2|sing=on campus suburban environment. Its architecture is built around the traditional quadrangle form. There are four boarding houses on campus which are home to one half of the approximately 560 boys. Many teaching faculty also live on campus.

Academics

The school's mission statement is "Dedicating ourselves to the development of the complete man, the well-rounded citizen'. Sports are a compulsory activity and considered an essential part of school life and culture. Over 53 representative teams are offered, as are a host of in-house and non-competitive sports.

Every student at St. Andrew's College is equipped with a Dell Latitude D630 laptop. The laptop will be renewed every two years. Certified technicians work around the clock to ensure that students' laptops are constantly in working order. As of 2002, every classroom and common area at St. Andrew's College is covered by a wireless network.

The students have a broad selection of courses to choose from, including Advanced Placement (AP) classes to better prepare them for post-secondary studies. As well, many AP examinations are offered at this testing location. Example of AP courses offered are Chemistry, English, Calculus, Statistics, Economics and Computer Science.

Most of the graduates of St. Andrew's College move on to post-secondary education around the world, including Canadian and American universities, the Ivy League and British universities.

tudents

Approximately half the students from 21 countries attending "St. Andrew's College" live in residence. Dayboys, from the Greater Toronto Area, are a part of the three "day" houses: Ramsey, Laidlaw, and Smith. Middle School consists of students in grades 6 to 8 while Upper School comprises students in grades 9 through 12. Macdonald House is the home to all boarders attending grades 6 through 8. Upper School residents live in the four boarding houses: Flavelle, Sifton, MacDonald, and Memorial. The programs for Middle School students are generally independent from those for Upper School. The Middle School clans are Douglas, Montrose, Wallance, and Bruce. Each student is also part of a clan, where they would participate in various activities to earn Clan Points.

In addition, St. Andrew's students hail from an array of different backgrounds. Half of the school's student body are boarders and nearly 50% of the boarding community is international, coming from such countries as the Bahamas, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Germany, Indonesia, Uganda and the United States to name a few, though the school draws its two largest boarding populations from Korea and Mexico. The remaining students are from various provinces across Canada. [http://www.sac.on.ca/25-things-you-should-know-about-sac.asp]

The school also provides many leadership opportunity for students. Some of these include clubs such as Outreach, community service, and SAGE to either employment opportunities or volunteering at the school's summer camp. Clubs usually meet at a designated Monday slot, but can be expanded into lunch times and into the evening hours.

Prefects

The Prefect system consists of between ten to fourteen graduating-class students who are elected by the Upper School Students and Staff to carry out leadership duties throughout the year. In addition, the Prefects are allotted positions in community service, Outreach or cadets.

Facilities

Academic facilities

Coulter Hall - A three-floor building designated for use by the Social Sciences and English departments. The basement floor and the first floor are home to social science courses while the second is home to the English department.

Ketchum Auditorium - The school's auditorium, adjacent to Coulter Hall. The Ketchum Auditorium is home to St. Andrew's annual school plays and drama department.

McLaughlin Hall - A three-storey wing connecting the Bedard Athletic Centre, Coulter Hall, and the new Rogers Hall. It is completely devoted to science-related studies. The first floor is designated for geographic studies. The second floor is designated for biological studies and computer science. The third is designated for mathematics, chemistry and physics. It also features a permanently installed Focault pendulum, one of only a handful in Canada.

Towers Library - the main library at St. Andrew's College. It is named after Graham Towers, the first governor of the Bank of Canada.

Wirth Art Gallery - is a new facility designed to house the arts and media arts departments for the school. It is also the location of noted in-house local artist Tino Paolini.

tudent and school facilities

Ackerman Field - named after Gordan Ackerman, a former football coach and teacher at the College, the Ackerman Field is the school's premier sports field. It is home primarily to the Saints football program.

Bedard Athletic Centre - This building, named after one of the school's former headmasters, Robert Bedard, is home to the school's athletic needs. It houses one of the two gymnasiums on campus, as well as 6 squash courts, a 25-metre six lane swimming pool, the fitness and weight facility, ten locker rooms, and a fully-staffed sports injury clinic.

Dunlap Hall - The school's administrative facility. Like McLaughlin Hall, Dunlap Hall is separated into two floors: the first serves numerous functions including the Headmaster's office, admission office and the school's administration office. The second floor serves as the university guidance counselling department, which includes the alumni office and the main university guidance office; in 1999, two original classrooms were converted into the guidance office.

Gallery - The main part of the school where most of the students congregate. The commons area is adjacent to the Wirth Art Gallery.

Great Hall - The dining hall where breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served daily. It is also the site for many more formal meals and ceremonies, like the yearly Haggis dinner. The music rooms are also located in the basement of the Great Hall.

High Ropes Course - The high ropes course is school's only rope course and is frequently used to train the school's cadets, especially those in Grade 12 who wish to become cadet instructors, where completing the high ropes course is mandatory.

Memorial Chapel - The school's main chapel, which is dedicated to the Andreans who fought and died during World War I. The donation was made by Sir Joseph Flavelle, who also donated funds to establish Flavelle House. Morning services as well as some special services like the Remembrance Day Service are held in the Memorial Chapel.

Quad - Located directly in front of the boarding houses, the quad is supposed to represent the sacred ground at St. Andrew's. However, students are allowed to use the quad for athletic purposes at designated times during the day.

Yuill Family Gymnasium - The main athletic facility for all lower-school students. Yuill may also be used for upper-school activities, such as the annual Homecoming dance or some assemblies. Moreover, the Yuill gym is home to the middle-school rockclimbing facility.

Residential facilities

In addition to the school's academic and athletic facilities, there are four residential facilities for the boarding students at St. Andrew's. They are:

*Memorial House - named after the soldiers who died during World War I and World War II. Housemaster: Bob Perrier; Assistant Housemaster: Ann Perrier.
*Flavelle House - named after Sir Joseph Flavelle. Housemaster: David Stewart; Assistant Housemaster: Mark Burton.
*MacDonald House - named after the first Headmaster at St. Andrew's. Housemaster: David Galajda; Assistant Housemasters: Nick Day and Adam Kowaltschuk
*Sifton House - named after the school's prolific alumni and donors, the Sifton family, descended from Clifford Sifton. Housemaster: Jamie Inglis; Assistant Housemaster: Michael Harding.

Cadet Corps

St. Andrew’s is also home to Canada’s largest Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corps. Established in 1905, the 142 St. Andrew's College Highland Cadet Corps is now a credit earning, multi-year leadership program, but still culminates in an annual inspection. The school's cadet corps is also affiliated with the 48th Highlanders of Canada, retaining the same motto ("Dileas Gu Brath" - "Faithful Forever") as well as uniform (scarlet tunic and Modern Gordon tartan). In 2005, the centennial year, the Corps was granted the Freedom of the City of Aurora.

The Pipes and Drums Band is an integral part of the St. Andrew's College Highland Cadet Corps and one of its best known elements. The primary responsibility of the Pipe Band is to provide music for the Battalion when it is on the march. In this role the Band will be front and centre at the Annual Church Parade, the Headmaster's Parade and the Annual Inspection.

The cadet corps closely resembles that of the Canadian army. Beginning from Grade. 8, all students at St. Andrew's must participate in the cadet program. Those who wish to further pursue their leadership position in the cadet corps can either become platoon instructors or apply for senior positions within the corps. There are four mandatory levels in the cadet program, which accompanies each grade, and they are as follows:

*Green Star (Grade 8) - if the student passes the final green star exam, he will be promoted from a cadet to a lance corporal.
*Red Star (Grade 9) - if the student passes the final red star exam, he will be promoted from a private to a corporal.
*Silver Star (Grade 10) - if the student passes the final silver star exam, he will be promoted from a corporal to a master corporal.
*Gold Star (Grade 11) - if the student passes the final gold star exam, he will be promoted from a master corporal to a sergeant.

As well, the St. Andrew's College cadet corp has won a multitude of awards. It won the Strathcona Cup for general efficiency of private school cadet corps in 1944, 1945, 1947, 1954, 1955, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1973, 1980, 1981 and 1983. Moreover, it won the Earl Grey Challenge Trophy for the Best Cadet Corps in Canada in 1960-1961. [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ActivitiesClubs/cadets/History/Articles/Hist142.htm]

Rank structure

Similar to the Canadian Forces, a cadet can be promoted on merit gained through cadet accreditation and leadership within the core. The rank structure is equivalent to that of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets The cadets corps is one of only a few cadets corps in Canada which still keeps Cadets officers ranks.

Piping and drumming

In addition to the normal cadet corps, the pipes and drums band are also paramount to the school's cadet corps. Internationally renowned as "North America's piping heartland" for its piping and drumming program, St. Andrew's College attracts hundreds of potential pipers each year to its summer "Ontario School of Piping and Drumming at St. Andrew’s College" camp. [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ontpiping/Default.htm]

Like the cadets in the Royal Canadian Army Cadets program, pipers and drummers can elevate their rank in the same way that the normal school cadets do.

t. Andrew's terms

*GLC - short for "Guided Learning Centre," students usually come to the GLC to finish their outstanding homework, assignments or tests.
*Demerits - will be given out if students miss a breakfast, assembly, house meeting, late for study and lights out, or other misbehaving. Boarding students will be given a Tier One Gating if they get 11 demerits while day boys can only have 6 before they are given a Tier One Gating.
*Tier One Gating - a one-day gating given out to students either because of an accumulation of demerits, a disciplinary or academic problem. Students serve this gating in the school's Dining Hall on Saturdays.
*Tier Two Gating - The same as a gating, except students are required to serve their gating on both days of the weekend.
*Help Desk - A centre manned by Dell-certified professionals and interns where students can bring their laptops for any software or hardware problems.
*The Shads - the name for the creek that runs through the Malone playing fields, also the origin of the name of the Shad Valley organization.
*Day boy - Informal name given to a day student.
*Boarder - Informal name given to a boarding student.
*New/Old boy - Name and occasionally form of rank among students, indicating if they had attended S.A.C. a year prior.

chool events

Each year, St. Andrew's hosts certain events that are special only to the school. Some of these activities and events involve the school's entire student body, while others invite old boys, alumnies and their friends and families. These events serve different purposes, some of which are integral to the school's identity while others are used for fund raising causes.
*Annual Cadet Inspection - the annual cadet inspection is mandatory for the entire student body at St. Andrew's. The Inspection is usually held in May and invites eminent representatives from all across Canada] to inspect the school's student body. A tradition that finds its root since 1906, the annual inspection is integral to the school's identity and preserving the school's Scottish background.
*Cadets in Concert - This musical concert showcases the school's Pipes and drums and feature the Corps Concert Band, Stage Band and a few outstanding soloists, percussionists and dancers. It highlights traditional Celtic music, military band music, and some show tunes.
*Carol Service - The annual carol service is held at Yorkminister Park Church in midtown Toronto and showcases the school’s musicians and singers. The church holds over two thousand people and is generally filled to capacity. Like the annual cadet inspection, the carol service is mandatory and everybody from the student body must attend.
*Focus Festival of the Arts - This program is a three day festival of plays, a film festival, visual arts, music and social events for students, parents and guests. Boys who have never been involved in drama or on the stage before are encouraged to participate by writing their own plays, directing, producing or acting in performances large and small.
*Homecoming - an annual gathering of all St. Andrew's alumni to return to St. Andrew's. Contemporaneous with the homecoming celebration are various sports competition, especially in soccer and football. For upper school students, the homecoming event usually includes the annual homecoming dance.
*MacPherson Tournament - an annual hockey event where the St. Andrew's hockey team competes with hockey teams from other schools for the MacPherson Tournament Cup. The cup is named after three Andreans: Lloyd MacPhearson, Jim Hamilton and Bob Meagher, all of whom loved hockey with passion and contributed greatly to the St. Andrew's hockey team. The tournament has a North American flavour, hosting schools from Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Quebec, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, New York, Nova Scotia and Michigan as well as a variety of regions in Ontario. [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/Athletics/macpherson/history.htm]
*Prize Day - Prize Day is the culmination of the school's academic year, and features many awards and prizes earned by the school's students. There are two ceremonies, one for the Middle School and one for the Upper School. Prize Day takes place after exams, which are usually completed by early June.
*St. Andrew's Dinner - every winter, a traditional St. Andrew's night dinner is held, complete with Haggis. All students must attend, wearing their kilts for this special occasion. Like the annual cadet inspection, the St. Andrew's Dinner finds its roots since the inception of the school and is integral to the preservation of the school's Scottish tradition.

Clans

Middle School Clans:
*Bruce Clan
*Douglas Clan
*Wallace Clan
*Montrose Clan

Students in a particular Upper School house, both day and boarding, are in the same clan.

Upper School Clans:
*Buchanan Clan, Memorial House
*Chattan Clan, Smith House
*Ramsay Clan, Ramsey House
*Robertson Clan, Laidlaw House
*MacPherson Clan, Flavelle House
*Stewart Clan, Sifton House

Athletics

As one of the original members of Ontario’s “Little Big Four” (the others being Ridley College, Trinity College School, and Upper Canada College -St.Andrews is way better then all of these schools-). The photographs of each year’s representative teams line the walls of the Bedard Athletic Centre. Sports are mandatory for all boys two out of three terms.

St. Andrew’s has a tradition of sporting, as shown by its participation in both private and public school leagues and associations [http://www.sac.on.ca/sports-history.asp] :

*Private schools competition
*Little Big Four (L.B.F.) 1899-1968
*Independent School League (I.S.L.) 1968-1982
*Independent Schools Athletic Association (I.S.A.A.) 1982-1993
*Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association (C.I.S.A.A.)1993-present
*Canadian Association of Independent Schools (C.A.I.S.) 1981-present

*Public schools competition
*York Region Secondary Schools Athletic Association (Y.R.S.S.A.A.) 1971-1995
*Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Athletic Association (G.B.S.S.A.A.) 1973-1986
*Durham-York Secondary Schools Athletic Association (D.Y.S.S.A.A.) 1986-1995
*York Region Athletic Association (Y.R.A.A.) 1995-2004
*Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (O.F.S.A.A.) 1948-present

St. Andrew's College has teams for the following sports:

Fall *Football *Cross Country *Soccer *Volleyball *Fencing

Winter *Basketball *Ice Hockey *Nordic Skiing *Biathlon *Squash *Boys Swimming *Alpine Skiing *Curling

pring *Outdoor Track *Badminton *Baseball *Cricket *Golf *Lacrosse *Rugby *Tennis

Headmasters

*Reverend George Bruce (1899 - 1900)
*Reverend Bruce MacDonald (1900 - 1935)
*K. Ketchum (1935 - 1958)
*J. R. "Bob" Coulter (1958 - 1974)
*Thomas Hockin (1974 - 1981)
*Robert Bedard (1981 - 1997)
*E.G. Staunton (1997 - 2008) [http://www.sac.on.ca/News-2008-staunton.asp]
*Incumbent

Notable faculty

*Arthur Wenk - founder of the Toronto Camerata. [http://www.torontocamerata.org/founder.shtml]
* [http://www.piping.on.ca Jim McGillivray] , one of the world's top bagpipers and instructors.
*Robert Bédard, a former Headmaster, was Canada's top ranked tennis player for two decades.
*Thomas Cossitt, a former member of the Canadian House of Commons
*Stephen Rush, nationally ranked masters squash player, computer expert, and teacher.
*Thomas Hockin - former headmaster at St. Andrew's College. Hockin was a professor in political science, a renowned politician under the Progressive Conservative government and the Chief Executive Officer at the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.
*William Scoular, playwright, director, and teacher.
*Rupert Ray - former master of English and coach of debating.

Old Boys

St. Andrew's alumni include:

Arts

*Timothy Findley, OC - notable Author
*Lawren Harris, CC - Group of Seven Painter
*George Nozuka - Canadian/American Pop and R&B singer/songwriter
*Justin Nozuka - Canadian/American Folk singer/songwriter
*Stephen Amell - Canadian Actor
*Kiefer Sutherland - Actor, attended the school briefly until being expelled.

Business

*Anthony S. Fell - Businessman [http://www.sac.on.ca/files/jwalsh/sac_andrean_fa08.pdf]
*Joseph Flavelle - Businessman after whom Flavelle House is named.
*Rob McEwen, CC - Prolific entrepreneur, Class of 1969 [http://www.sac.on.ca/files/ksillcox/andrean_2007_fall_lr.pdf]
*Graham Towers, CC - Former Governor of the Bank of Canada

Media

* [http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1747992 Wilf Dinnick] - former CBC, CTV and Global National reporter, now an ABC reporter.
*Harry B. Housser - Former Toronto Stock Exchange President, [http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19370405,00.html featured] on TIME magazines front cover on April 5, 1937.
*Jack McClelland, OC - Publisher
*Alastair Sweeny - Historian, publisher

Military

* [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ActivitiesClubs/cadets/History/MilitaryOldBoys/PostWWII/PurdieIan.html Ian Purdie] - current governor of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires and Aide de Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Politics

*Thomas Cossitt, a member of the Canadian House of Commons
*E.L. Cousins - Engineer and former Toronto Harbour Commissioner
*John Crosbie, PC, OC , QC - Retired politician
*Vincent Massey, PC, CH, CC - Philanthropist and former Governor General of Canada (first Canadian born).
*John Alexander Douglas McCurdy - member of the Aerial Experiment Association, inventor of the aileron, and former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.
*Frank Moores - Former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
*Edward Roberts - Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland & Labrador
*Roy McMurtry - Class of 1950 - Politician and Chief Justice of Ontario (1996-2007)

cience

*Gilbert de B. Robinson - Mathematician

ports

*Robert Bedard - famous Canadian tennis player
*Geoff Browne - first Canadian to land on Bouvet Island while filming a documentary.
*Steve Gainey - hockey player, currently for the Phoenix Coyotes.
*Greg Hotham - hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs.
*Michael Del Zotto - hockey player, 20th overall in 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.

Trivia

*Beginning in the year of 2005-2006, St. Andrew's College eliminated its Saturday school program, following suit with many other independent schools in Ontario who have also done the same.
*During the annual Cadet Corps inspection for 2004-2005, the honourable guest was Belinda Stronach.
*In 1914, the H.R.H. Duke of Connaught made a royal visit during the school's prize day. Subsequently, the school formed a Guard of Honour Corps in commemoration of this visit. [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ActivitiesClubs/cadets/History/Articles/Hist142.htm]
*In 1941, a jaguar skin shot by Theodore Roosevelt was given to the school's bass drummer.
*In 2006, St. Andrew's College hosted the 25th Annual "International Independent Schools' Public Speaking Competition," the first in the school's history.
*On the 60th anniversary of World War II, the St. Andrew's College army cadet pipes and drums were asked to lead the ceremony.
*Over 150 Andreans died in World War I and World War II.
*The David Dunlap Observatory at the University of Toronto is named after David Alexander Dunlap, the Chairman of the Board of Governors at St. Andrew's College from 1939 to 1945.
*The McLaughlin Hall is named after Colonel R.S. McLaughlin, who unveiled the hall in 1971 as part of his donation to the school.
*The Roger Neilson's Hockey Camp permanently relocated from Lindsay, Ontario to the school in the summer of 2005.
*The school's first inspection was held on May 14, 1906. In its first year the total strength of the Corps was 68, which was the number of available uniforms. [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ActivitiesClubs/cadets/History/Articles/Hist142.htm]
*William Scoular's book "Not An Ordinary Place: A St. Andrew's Century" is based entirely around St. Andrew's.
*"Cheaper by the Dozen 2" was filmed at St. Andrew's College during the summer of 2005.

External links

* [http://www.sac.on.ca St. Andrew's College website]
* [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ActivitiesClubs/cadets/ 142 St. Andrew's College Highland Cadet Corps]
* [http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ontpiping/ Ontario School of Piping and Drumming]