Simcoe Composite School
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| Simcoe Composite School | |
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| Address | |
| 40 Wilson Avenue Simcoe, Ontario, N3Y 2E5, Canada |
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| Information | |
| School board | Grand Erie District School Board |
| Principal | Helene High |
| Vice principal | Darren Duff |
| School type | Public secondary |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Language | English |
| Team name | Sabres |
| Established | 1898 |
| Enrollment | 960 (2007-2008) |
| Homepage | http://www.simcoesabres.com/main.html |
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Simcoe Composite School is a high school in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. Over 900 students attend this rural secondary school and courses range from English, French, Spanish, and mathematics to computers, business, athletics, world history, civics, and even drama class. In 2003 the school suffered the loss of their gym as it was burnt down.
Several years and many fundraisers later, the Sabredome was officially opened again in 2006. With the new gym, the school gained one of the best music rooms in Norfolk county. This new music room is the second home to Mr. P. McGovern, the music teacher. Also in 2006, Mr. Bob Foster retired from his position of principal of Simcoe Composite School. Mr. Foster was one of the most influential and hard-working principals of Simcoe Composite, feared and loved by most students who have attended its halls.
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[edit] Bridge Special Needs Program
There is also a special education program called Bridge that teaches mentally challenged children how to adapt to adult life in the community. Every Wednesday afternoon, the special needs students take swimming lessons at the local recreation centre. Children in the Bridge program range from 14 to 21 years of age and can range from high functioning to severely handicapped. During the 1990s, there was a facilitated communication-oriented support group (WINGS) that met with the special needs kids from Walsh Public School on Friday afternoons. This group was short-lived and was disbanded by the year 2000.
After graduation, the student is usually assigned to the Norfolk Association for Community Living to begin their advanced life skill training, job placement, and possible independent living arrangements. A large majority of Bridge graduates live either with their parents or in a group home. The average occupation of a Bridge graduate is a disability pensioner, a paid employee of a sheltered workshop, or as a food preparer at the local McDonald's. Since most companies that engage in "open" or "mainstream" employment refuse to hire Bridge program graduates, options are extremely limited within Norfolk County.
Prior to the establishment of the Bridge Special Needs program, mentally challenged students from elementary schools like Doan's Hollow Public School and the Simcoe Lions School were placed in basic classes that were in the regular program. However, they faced frustration with even the most simple tasks in what would now be called "vocational" classes. Most special needs students in the 1970s and 1980s faced suspensions from school and most of them eventually dropped out of the school system due to frustration. The Bridge program made things easier by facilitating the transition from elementary school to adulthood. However, the Bridge program achieves this goal through segregating the special needs children from the rest of the high school (unless his or her maturity suggests attending a certain number of integrated subjects).
[edit] Athletics and lifestyles at SCS
Simcoe Composite School students participate in the follow sports on a high school level:
Simcoe Composite School has a basketball, a soccer team, a hockey team, and a Rugby team that collectively use the school team name Sabres. The school's swimming team uses the school team name Sabercuda which is said to be a cross between the conventional sabre and the barracuda.
Students from this school rarely eat from the in-school cafeteria. Instead, they take advantage of their proximity to the fast food restaurants on the Queensway, the downtown business area, and their homes to enjoy lunches either at home or inside fast food restaurants where meals are served quickly, and appeals to the adolescent taste buds. However, $5 at the cafeteria can get the student a hamburger, a small portions of fries, and a canned soft drink while it takes over $10 to get the equivalent at Wendy's. While cafeteria food is slower to prepare than fast food from a franchised restaurant, the cafeteria staff start cooking around 10:45 A.M. and the meals are usually prepared by 11:33 A.M. which is the start of lunch hour. Most students finish their lunches by 12:00 P.M. and the cafeteria closes around 12:45 P.M.
In addition to the courses mentioned above, SCS has a wide variety of other courses available for the children in order to teach them the skills and concepts needed to live in a democractic society with a well-paying career and a successful life.
[edit] Simcoe Composite School TV Show
On Thursday nights before Bingo Live on Cable 5, the school has its own local access cable show for the people in Simcoe to watch. The show features highlights on the school, its students, and general popular culture. The communications class is responisible for the weekly programming and graduates of this project have become very successful in university.
[edit] Carillon Tower
The high school is located next to the Carillon Tower where Remembrance Day ceremonies are annually done to honor the town's departed veteran soldiers of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. When the clock strikes at 11:00 A.M. on November 11 of each year, everyone is expected to do the Two Minute Silence.
[edit] Nearby attractions
There are also two parks near the high school. One can be accessed from a bridge and the other one can be accessed by crossing the main street, which outside of Simcoe, becomes Highway 24. These two parks also hold the Friendship Festival every August. To the south, there is a post office. To the north, there is a Wendy's and Subway, and other fast food restaurants. To the east, there is a neighbourhood, where teenagers usually walk to the high school and back.
[edit] External links
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