Bell High School (Ottawa)
Encyclopedia
Bell High School is a high school located in Bells Corners of Ottawa, Canada. Established in 1962 by the Carleton Board of Education as a public high school, it currently serves as one of the only two facilities with the prestigious OCDSB Gifted Program
. It also offers a comprehensive French Immersion
and ESL program in addition to the normal academic program.
Academically, Bell has one of the highest university placement rates in Ottawa. Virtually all students of its gifted program and a plurality in the academic program enter respectable university programs in Canada or internationally. Students often go to the local Carleton University
and University of Ottawa
, with others going to Queen’s University, McGill University
, University of Waterloo
or University of British Columbia
in Canada. Some graduates go to the United States
; in the past students have gone to Yale University
and Harvard University
.
Bell High School also offers comprehensive French Immersion studies for students wishing to pursue accreditation and fluency in French as well as a full range of Advance Placement courses and examinations for those whom wish to attain university credits during high school. AP Courses offered include : Physics B, Calculus, English Literature, French, Macroeconomics and Studio Arts.
Beyond special academic curriculum, Bell High School offers a diverse and extensive range of academic studies. Reinforced by its excellent educational infrastructure and exceptional staff to student ratio of 13.3 (~1000 students to ~80 staff), Bell High School students almost always performs exceptionally in national mathematics, biology and business competitions. In the University of Waterloo
Math Competitions, Bell has consistently ranked within the top 50 schools in the nation.
To enforce Bell’s academic reputation, it is not uncommon for its students to travel across the nation to visit various institutions for enrichment studies. Some examples include the Canadian Light Source synchrotron
(a particle accelerator
) in Saskatchewan
, Huntsman Marine Science Center, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
in Waterloo
, McGill University
and the University of Toronto
for its Model United Nations
conferences. Many of Bell's students have been selected to attend the prestigious Shad Valley
summer enrichment program for excellence in science, math, business and engineering.
Bell also has an international travels program which sends students across the world in order to broaden their horizon. Destinations include Continental Europe, Asia, Japan and the Galapagos Islands.
The school also has a two-storey library with computer access, a student services office, two music rooms, a drama studio, an extensive costume storage room, a dance studio, a drafting studio, a full-sized gym with bleachers, a greenhouse, an automotive garage, two construction workshops and indoor weight training and exercise facilities.
Because of the size of its campus, Bell High School offers a full range of sports amenities and well as a large degree of recreational green space. The school has two baseball diamonds, two full-sized soccer fields (one doubles a rugby field), an all season indoor hockey arena (The Bell Arena) and a 400 m gravel track either directly owned by the school or owned by the City of Ottawa
immediately adjacent to the property.
Due to the large number of students attending Bell High School from other neighborhoods, a fleet of eight “600” series buses have been charted from the OC Transpo to run a custom route in order to transport students.
holds this event, as well as World Vision
's 30 Hour Famine, and other events for charity and awareness.
Beyond activities, Bell also engages extensively in fundraising efforts. Through these efforts, Bell has contributed significantly to the local community and even managed to construct a sister school in Kenya which it maintains as a on-going humanitarian project
. Other than its fundraisers and humanitarian projects, Bell High School also hosts a plethora of events to actively promote arts and culture, though performances, banquets and shows.
The students of Bell also run a diverse list of clubs from philanthropic organizations to academic groups. Among the list are Anime
Club, A/V (Audio/Visual) Club, BISA (Bell Islam
ic Students' Association), Breakfast Club (Bell's Christian
group), Chess
Club, Community Science Club, Debate
Club, the GloBELL Roar Newspaper, GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance), Interact Club (Part of Rotary International
), Key Club
, OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving), Reach for the Top
(placing first nationally in 1993), the University Math Club and a host of others.
Bell is also known for its exceptional drama program, consistently earning recognitions at the annual Sears Ontario Drama Festival. The 2008 production, "Whitechapel," was published in "Festival Voices," an anthology of plays written by students and teachers for the Festival. Bell also has an annual musical production which has been regarded by local media as professional quality for its outstanding production values. It is also consistently recognized by “The Cappies” for its excellence in the field.
The teams offered by Bell High School (all teams have male and female divisions) include: soccer, football
, basketball
, volleyball
, badminton
, field hockey
, rugby
, cross country running
, Nordic skiing
, Alpine skiing
, hockey
, track and field
, curling
, baseball
, wrestling
and swimming
. In 2010, badminton players from Bell earned two OFSAA provincial gold titles and a silver title in an unprecedented performance by one school.
Gifted education
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented...
. It also offers a comprehensive French Immersion
French immersion
French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which a child who does not speak French as his or her first language receives instruction in school in French...
and ESL program in addition to the normal academic program.
Academics
The school consists of roughly 50% students from local districts as well as another 50% from other districts who transfer in order to attend its Gifted Program, French Immersion Program or ESL program.Academically, Bell has one of the highest university placement rates in Ottawa. Virtually all students of its gifted program and a plurality in the academic program enter respectable university programs in Canada or internationally. Students often go to the local Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
and University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, with others going to Queen’s University, McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
or University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in Canada. Some graduates go to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; in the past students have gone to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Bell High School also offers comprehensive French Immersion studies for students wishing to pursue accreditation and fluency in French as well as a full range of Advance Placement courses and examinations for those whom wish to attain university credits during high school. AP Courses offered include : Physics B, Calculus, English Literature, French, Macroeconomics and Studio Arts.
Beyond special academic curriculum, Bell High School offers a diverse and extensive range of academic studies. Reinforced by its excellent educational infrastructure and exceptional staff to student ratio of 13.3 (~1000 students to ~80 staff), Bell High School students almost always performs exceptionally in national mathematics, biology and business competitions. In the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
Math Competitions, Bell has consistently ranked within the top 50 schools in the nation.
To enforce Bell’s academic reputation, it is not uncommon for its students to travel across the nation to visit various institutions for enrichment studies. Some examples include the Canadian Light Source synchrotron
Synchrotron
A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator in which the magnetic field and the electric field are carefully synchronised with the travelling particle beam. The proton synchrotron was originally conceived by Sir Marcus Oliphant...
(a particle accelerator
Particle accelerator
A particle accelerator is a device that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to high speeds and to contain them in well-defined beams. An ordinary CRT television set is a simple form of accelerator. There are two basic types: electrostatic and oscillating field accelerators.In...
) in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, Huntsman Marine Science Center, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent, resident-based research institute devoted to foundational issues in theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Perimeter Institute was founded in 1999 by Mike Lazaridis...
in Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....
, McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
and the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
for its Model United Nations
Model United Nations
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda....
conferences. Many of Bell's students have been selected to attend the prestigious Shad Valley
Shad valley
Shad Valley is a Canadian summer enrichment program for high school students that runs every year, primarily in July. The program is open to both Canadian and international students, and runs in ten participating university campuses across Canada, where the students live in residence...
summer enrichment program for excellence in science, math, business and engineering.
Bell also has an international travels program which sends students across the world in order to broaden their horizon. Destinations include Continental Europe, Asia, Japan and the Galapagos Islands.
Facilities and Infrastructure
Bell High School is located on a spacious 25 ac (10 ha) campus, the school building itself is in the shape of the letter "E" and divided into several “wings”. Each wing contains the faculties of a different educational discipline, with Science, Mathematics and English and Social Studies each with their own wing. The school also has standard facilities, such as an art studio and cafeteria. Bell High School offers a large variety of educational infrastructure to enrich the studies of its students. This includes the active integration of technology (including projectors, four modern computer labs, and SmartBoards as well as a large range of physical infrastructure.The school also has a two-storey library with computer access, a student services office, two music rooms, a drama studio, an extensive costume storage room, a dance studio, a drafting studio, a full-sized gym with bleachers, a greenhouse, an automotive garage, two construction workshops and indoor weight training and exercise facilities.
Because of the size of its campus, Bell High School offers a full range of sports amenities and well as a large degree of recreational green space. The school has two baseball diamonds, two full-sized soccer fields (one doubles a rugby field), an all season indoor hockey arena (The Bell Arena) and a 400 m gravel track either directly owned by the school or owned by the City of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
immediately adjacent to the property.
Due to the large number of students attending Bell High School from other neighborhoods, a fleet of eight “600” series buses have been charted from the OC Transpo to run a custom route in order to transport students.
Student activities
Bell High School has an extremely active student population which hosts a huge variety of activities such as leadership camps (a massive 3 day affair involving more than 30% of the school population) to games and other fun events. An elected Students' CouncilStudent council
Student council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...
holds this event, as well as World Vision
World Vision
World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...
's 30 Hour Famine, and other events for charity and awareness.
Beyond activities, Bell also engages extensively in fundraising efforts. Through these efforts, Bell has contributed significantly to the local community and even managed to construct a sister school in Kenya which it maintains as a on-going humanitarian project
Humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...
. Other than its fundraisers and humanitarian projects, Bell High School also hosts a plethora of events to actively promote arts and culture, though performances, banquets and shows.
The students of Bell also run a diverse list of clubs from philanthropic organizations to academic groups. Among the list are Anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Club, A/V (Audio/Visual) Club, BISA (Bell Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic Students' Association), Breakfast Club (Bell's Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
group), Chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Club, Community Science Club, Debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
Club, the GloBELL Roar Newspaper, GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance), Interact Club (Part of Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
), Key Club
Key Club
Key Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International family of service-leadership programs...
, OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving), Reach for the Top
Reach for the Top
Reach for the Top is a Canadian game show in which teams of high school students participate in local, provincial and eventually national trivia tournaments...
(placing first nationally in 1993), the University Math Club and a host of others.
Bell is also known for its exceptional drama program, consistently earning recognitions at the annual Sears Ontario Drama Festival. The 2008 production, "Whitechapel," was published in "Festival Voices," an anthology of plays written by students and teachers for the Festival. Bell also has an annual musical production which has been regarded by local media as professional quality for its outstanding production values. It is also consistently recognized by “The Cappies” for its excellence in the field.
Athletics
Bell High School has a large roster of sport teams which participate in all fashions of sports under the Bell Bruin name (the mascot of the school, a bear). Out of its roster, Bell particularly excels at rugby, basketball, badminton, wrestling and track and field, frequently qualifying for nationals and Pan-American level competitions.The teams offered by Bell High School (all teams have male and female divisions) include: soccer, football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, Nordic skiing
Nordic skiing
Nordic skiing is a winter sport that encompasses all types of skiing where the heel of the boot cannot be fixed to the ski, as opposed to Alpine skiing....
, Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
, hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
and swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
. In 2010, badminton players from Bell earned two OFSAA provincial gold titles and a silver title in an unprecedented performance by one school.