Gladstone Secondary School

Current

Gladstone is a school of approximately 1300 students from grades 8-12. The students participate in many extracurricular activities, including clubs and sports teams. Gladstone is well known for its successful sports teams (e.g. Volleyball), and its participation in competitions related to engineering (Electrathon, Robotics). Gladstone's Fine Arts department is also highly regarded, with especially strong Music, Drama, and Dance programs.

Gladstone is a participant in the Think & Eat Green @ School program, designed to enrich student knowledge of sustainable food practices. Gladstone's focus in this project is on the redesign and infrastructural change to the kitchen and cafeteria. Gladstone was also featured in Season 1, Episode 7 of 21 Jump Street.

History

Gladstone is built on property that was once an old farm. The location was designated for a school in the late 1920s, but because of the Great Depression and Second World War, construction did not begin until 1949.

Gladstone opened as a junior high school in 1950 with an enrollment of 1376 students. Mr. D.B. Mackenzie, who was Gladstone's first principal, opened the sliding gym doors to symbolize the opening of the school at a ceremony attended by all staff members and students. From the opening year in 1950, Gladstone added a grade each year until the first class graduated in 1954. Since then, many students have been through Gladstone's doors.

Academics

Gladstone has a diverse array of academic courses and programs that provide students with a range of educational options for them to pursue. The school offers three Advanced Placement courses in English, Calculus and Chemistry. Gladstone used to offer a Montessori program; however, this program ended in 2010.

Mini-School

The Gladstone Mini-School is an accelerated academics program that attracts self-motivated students looking for a challenge to their learning experience. Students are expected to possess above-average abilities in various areas of academia and are encouraged to participate in community service to fully complete and graduate from Mini-School. Because of the nature of the program, students end up doing the equivalent of three years' work (grades 8, 9 and 10) in two years (grades 8 and 9).

There are two streams offered by Mini-School: Humanities (consisting of Drama, English, Social Studies and French) and Mathematics-Science (consisting of Applied Skills, Math and Science). Prospective applicants are required to take a test to show their multiple academic abilities as well as submit a portfolio.

Social Development

The Social Development program provides an intimate classroom environment for students in grades 8 and 9 who have been identified as "withdrawn" or socially/emotionally fragile or delayed; these students are considered to have a behaviour disorder. The program is extremely flexible, with academics taught in groups or individually to meet student needs, and learning activities are modified or adapted to best achieve academic goals.

The objective of Social Development is to coach students on understanding ineffective behaviour patterns and to build self-awareness by fostering self-esteem through problem-solving strategies.

Motto and Code of Conduct

The school's motto and crest were chosen early in the school's history as a result of contests. The motto, "Fide et Virtute", which translates to "By Faith and By Courage" is the family motto of William Ewart Gladstone, after whom the school was named.

The school's Code of Conduct is summarized by the acronym RESPECT. It stands for Respect, Empathy, Safety, Positive Attitude, Excellence, Caring, and Teamwork.

Notable alumni

Timetable

Gladstone Secondary School operates on a linear timetable on a Day 1 / Day 2 rotation, from September to June. Each day has four blocks: three blocks of 1 hour and 15 minutes each, and one block of 1 hour and 22 minutes. The blocks rotate four times a year and each day of classes begin at 8:40 a.m. and end at 3:03 p.m. (Monday to Friday).