Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School is a public, bilingual English and 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...

 secondary school in Markham

Markham, Ontario

Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. It was named in honour of the 15th Prime Minister of Canada

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

, the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

History

Construction of Pierre Elliott Trudeau HS commenced in June 2001 and opened the following September 2002 with 500 students in grade 8, 9 and 10. The grade 8 students were from a feeder school and were segregated from the High School students. 2004-2005 was the first year with a graduating class and thus a full school.

Location and Feeder Schools

Located in northern Markham between Major Mckenzie Dr. and Hwy 16 and east of Kennedy Rd, trudeau is a part of the York Region District School Board

York Region District School Board

The York Region District School Board, also known as YRDSB, is the English-language public school board for York Regional Municipality located in Ontario, Canada. The York Region District School Board is currently the province's third largest school board, with an enrollment of over 115,000 students...

, Trudeau primarily serves students who reside in northern Unionville

Unionville, Ontario

Unionville is a suburban village in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is located 33 km northeast of downtown Toronto and 4 km east of southern Richmond Hill. Unionville is located between Woodbine Avenue as the western limit, alongside the Rouge River leading to McCowan Road as the eastern...

, which include the communities of Cachet

Cachet, Ontario

Cachet is a community within north-central Unionville, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded by 16th Avenue to the south, Major Mackenzie Drive to the north, Warden Avenue to the east and Highway 404 to the west....

, Angus Glen

Angus Glen, Ontario

Angus Glen is a community in the north part of Markham, Ontario, Canada, and is part of Unionville...

, and Berczy Village. Trudeau also serves students in the French-immersion program who reside in the communities of Stouffville, and most of the Town of Markham

Markham, Ontario

Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...

.

PETHS's feeder school include:

• Ashton Meadows PS
• Castlemore PS
• Franklin St PS (French Immersion)
• Glad Park PS (French Immersion)
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier PS (French Immersion)
• Stonebridge PS
• Unionville Meadows Public School

Colours and Symbols

The colours of Trudeau are based on the four colours found on the native

Indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

 medicine wheel

Medicine wheel

Medicine wheels, or sacred hoops, were constructed by laying stones in a particular pattern on the ground. Most medicine wheels follow the basic pattern of having a center of stone, and surrounding that is an outer ring of stones with "spokes", or lines of rocks radiating from the center...

: white

White

White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...

, yellow

Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

, red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

 and black

Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

. The students of Trudeau are collectively known as the Trudeau Trailblazers

Trail blazing

Trail blazing, or trailblazing, is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with blazes, markings that follow each other at certain — though not necessarily exactly defined — distances and mark the direction of the trail...

. The name trailblazers is an homage to Pierre Elliott Trudeau himself and his "trailblazing" attitude in Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and global politics

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

. Trudeau's athletic mascot is known as The Trudeau Trailblazers".

Strive Higher, Soar Further is the school's motto which is featured on the school's crest. The crest, titled The Spark, features a stylized abstract representation of energy and creativity.

Academics

PETHS was intended to be an academic school from the onset. Initially upon opening, Trudeau hired many teachers from Bayview Secondary School with the intent of implementing the International Baccalaureate program, which as of 2011 had not yet been achieved. Instead the school offers many AP classes in subjects such as mathematics, science, French, English and history.

Trudeau is one of Ontario's leaders in education, routinely scoring well above the provincial averages in standardized testing and was rated the best public high school in Ontario in 2008 and was one of 2 York Region schools to break the top ten again in 2011

An internal report from the school's guidance department in 2008 indicated that Trudeau had tied with other schools for the third highest provincial average for graduating students departing for post secondary education, and that it's students won a disproportionate amount of scholarships.

Athletics

Pierre Elliott Trudeau is also the first high school in Markham to have a competitive cheerleading team starting January 2011.

February 2011, the Junior Girls Volleyball division won YRAA tier 1 championships, bringing home the first YRAA volleyball banner in history.

Academic

PETHS has historically participated in and excelled at the McMaster University

McMaster University

McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...

 Engineering Olympics, winning in multiple events. Since 2005, they have participated in the York Region Science Olympics and have ranked in the top 5. Since 2004, its students began entering 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...

 Biology Contest and have placed in the top third of all international schools to participate. The school also regularly participates in the Sir Isaac Newton Physics Contest, and all applicable 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...

 Canadian Mathematics Competition. Trudeau's music department had advanced to the Gold Level at the OBA competitions in previous years (2008, 2009, 2010).

Drama Council

Trudeau's Drama Council has historically held the Cabaret, a talent show for students and staff to showcase their many skills and talents, and the Drama Mosaic which is a showcase of student work relating to a single topic.

Trudeau has also participated in the Sears Ontario Drama Festival An annual theatrical showcase event in which several schools across Ontario compete in. Trudeau has a reputation for hosting the district showcase and has had great success at the festival, advancing to the Regional Showcase at Hart House theater at the University of Toronto five times in the period from 2003-2009.

Some previous works include:

• The Great Theatre of the World (2003)
• The Calendar Effect (2004)
• The Arabian Nights (2005)
• Dragon of the Winds (2006)
• Stories Gone Wilde (2007)
• Congo (2008)

Music Council

The Music Council has held the annual Christmas and Spring Concerts in addition to the music potluc and the in-house and invitational Battle of the Bands. the Battle of the bands is a chance for the school's own talent, as well as other YRDSB school's bands to showcase their talent and perform in front of an audience.

Student Council

Events held by the Student Council members at PETHS include Trudeaumania, a welcoming event for grade nine students, Blazer's Bash which is a school wide event taking place near the end of May as well as many school spirit days usually focused on Spirit week in the late winter before march break.

School Bus

As per the criteria of Student Transportation Service (joint school bus service for YRDSB and YCDSB), students from grade 9-12 in the YRDSB are eligible for school bus transportation if they are:

• 1. Living more than 3.2 km from the school (measured along safe walkways)

and

• 2. Living in a non-transit served area. (A transit served area means that a person can get to and from school using the YRT/Viva in less than an hour, needs to walk no more than 1 km to/from the stop, and needs to take a maximum of 3 buses each way).

Students in a special needs program (excluding gifted), are exempt from the policy and always receive it.

Public Transit

The YRT

York Region Transit

York Region Transit is the public transit operator in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Richmond Hill, at 50 High Tech Road....

routes which stop at or near the school are:

• 8 - Kennedy
• 18 - Bur Oak
• 42 - Berczy-South Unionville

No other routes divert to the school at the beginning and end of the day.

However, there is one high school special, route 418. It is meant for those who live in the Western parts of the school's service area.

YRT fares are $3.25 in cash for a two hour pass in one fare zone. Ten student tickets are $19.00 and a monthly pass is $75.00

External links

• Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School website