Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School (Oakville)

History

Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary construction was completed in the summer of 2002 and the school opened to new students in September 2002. The school initially had only Grade 9, Grade 10 and Grade 11 students. First year enrollment was just slightly above 800 students.

Holy Trinity's first year open, 2002, was considered by many of those who attended to be a truly great year in the history of the school. This was not only because it was the opening year of the school but also because of the lower student population size of the school. The initial school year had approximately 800 students, while the 2007-2008 school year has seen that initial enrollment double in size.

The school is a twin build of Christ the King Catholic Secondary School in Georgetown, Ontario. The blueprints of this school are a mirror image of Holy Trinity's. Both schools were opened in September 2002.

The 2006-2007 school year had in excess of 1600 students (1626) enrolled in the school. The first, complete student enrollment and graduation cycle (those students who attended grades 9 through 12) was completed with the commencement in June 2006. The 2007-2008 year had 1652 students enrolled.

The official capacity of the original school was set by the Ontario Ministry of Education as a build design for 1200 students. The enrollment for the 2006-2007 school year was officially listed as 1626 students. The large enrollment has brought much concern to parents and the community. Many believe the overpopulation and fast growth of the school is unacceptable and that the board should work to decrease the number of students attending. It has been suggested that the school should reduce the number of feeder schools attending, with the possibility of sending the students from Holy Family to St. Thomas Aquinas (located in Old Oakville) instead. This was accomplished, and the Holy Family graduates of 2010 were the last students from Holy Family able to attend Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary.

Portable or relocatable classrooms

There are currently an additional eight (8) portable classrooms situated on site for the 2011 - 2012 and 2012 - 2013 school years. In fall 2007, two separate fires ran through several portables, causing many to be replaced. Portable One was removed following the first fire and 6 years later has yet to be replaced, leaving no portable that is numbered with the number "1." These individual classrooms are placed outside of the original school building to accommodate the excess student enrollment over the building capacity of 1200 students as set by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Student enrollment in the 2007-2008 school year was a 36% enrollment increase above the permanent build facility level approved by the Ministry when the school was completed in 2002. History in Ontario has shown that many of these relocatable/portable classrooms will in fact be on site at the school for 15 to 20 or more years.

No provision is made by the Ministry for important and needed specialty classrooms for these additional students enrolled beyond the official building capacity. Academic areas needing additional academic specialized facilities for the additional four hundred students in excess of the official 1200 capacity, are in the areas of science labs, computer labs and technical education classrooms.

Extra-curricular activities

Holy Trinity does offer many extracurricular activities. However, they are mainly oriented around team and individual sports:

Boys ~ Football, Curling, Badminton, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, Soccer, Swimming, Rugby, Baseball, Cross Country, Track and Field, Wrestling

Girls ~ Basketball, Badminton, ice hockey, Volleyball, Soccer, Swimming, Field Hockey, Rugby, Tennis, Cross Country, Track and Field, Fastball.

The school offers a selection of open participation extracurricular activities. Musical options include a Senior and Junior Concert Bands, Jazz Band under the direction of Mr. Kevin Harkin, Concert Choir, and Chamber Choir under the direction of and Mrs. Sheila Mascarin. Extracurricular groups, clubs, and teams include an Environment Club, Quidditch Team, Debate Team, FIRST Robotics Competition Team (Tronic Titans 3161), Chess Team, and Ski Team.

The school also has a very successful Student Council. Holy Trinity's Student Council consists of two representatives from each grade and 2 co-presidents. Council runs many school events such as dances, spirit days and assembly's. Grade's 10-12 can run for council at the end of the school year, while grade nine's run in September.

Varsity athletics

Soccer

The Senior boys soccer team captured the Halton Region championships in 2006 and competed at the OFSSAA Provincial championship(2006). In 2005 the Junior varsity captured the Halton Region title. The 2016 Girls Junior Varsity team went undefeated to capture the Halton Region Title Other notable successes include that the tennis team last year were Halton Champions.

Basketball

The Senior Boys won their first ever Halton AAAA Basketball Championship in the 2006 - 2007 season by beating the Assumption Crusaders. The undefeated Senior Boys also won the Halton title in 2012 as well as the GHAC title. They then concluded their most successful season in school history by ending up 4th at OFSAA (the provincial finals).

The Junior Girls won their first ever Halton AAAA Basketball Championship in the 2006 - 2007 season. It was the crowning achievement in an undefeated season.

Trinity Live Arts

Trinity Live Arts produces one annual school production, directed and choreographed by the teachers from all sections of the Arts Department. Past shows include: Fame (2004), Dracula (2005), Kids Say The Darndest Things (2006), Footloose (2007), The Donnellys (2008), The Wiz (2009) & Metamorphoses (2010).

2008 marked the first year the school participated in the Sears Drama Festival (held at Burlington Central High School). In 2009, Holy Trinity hosted the festival as "Red Carpet Nights". Past Sears Drama shows include: No Exit (2008), Inspector Rex (2009) & the original Bollywood musical, Bombay the Hard Way (2010).

The After-School Drama Club was introduced in 2009, allowing students to be both directors and actors in their own productions.

Robotics

Holy Trinity has a FIRST Robotics Competition team, 3161, The Tronic Titans, whose first years as a rookie team was the 2010 season.

In their rookie year, team 3161 seeded well at the Waterloo Regional, and qualified for the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Georgia as rookie all-stars.

Feeder schools

Elementary schools whose graduates are expected to come to Holy Trinity include St. Johns, Our Lady of Peace, St. Marguerite d'Youville, Holy Family, St. Michael and St. Andrew. Students of Holy Family were originally not scheduled to attend Holy Trinity. However, concerned parents and students from the school challenged the Board until they were added to the list of schools to attend. Beginning the 2009-2010 graduates from Holy Family will be attending St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in South Oakville.

Holy Trinity holds multiple "feeder school" athletic tournaments throughout the year in sports including volleyball, basketball, and track and field. The school also holds tournaments for their fellow Halton Region high schools as well as hosting a number of regional tournaments and classic events in a variety of sports. In addition, the arts programs make trips to the elementary schools each year or host shows at Holy Trinity to inform future students of the opportunities the arts programs hold.