Roland Michener Secondary School is an English and French Immersion public high school in South Porcupine, Ontario. It is a small school with an average enrollment of 350–500, and is part of the District School Board Ontario North East. Until the 1997–98 school year, it was part of the Timmins Board of Education.
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House system
A feature that makes the school unique is its house system. All homerooms are split into 4 houses, each named after a prominent Canadian politician: Baldwin, Frontenac, Tupper and Vanier. Students in PRS (Porcupine Regional School - a section of the school for mentally challenged students) also have their own house called the Fox Hounds. Each house competes throughout the school year at different competitions (House Wars, homeroom games, citrus sales, etc...) to earn points. The house with the most points wins the Housemasters Cup at the final assembly of the school year.
While the school colours consist of gold and green, each house also has their own colour and mascot. Vanier house is represented by blue and white, and its mascot is a Viking (Vanier Vikings). Baldwin is represented by black and yellow and its mascot is a bear (Baldwin Bears). Tupper is represented by orange and green, and its mascot is a tiger (Tupper Tigers). In the past, Frontenac was represented by pink and black, but in recent years the colours have changed to red and black. Its mascot is the Pink Panther (Frontenac Panthers), though various black panther logos can be seen around the school as well. In September 2011, the house colours of Frontenac changed back to pink and black, with a new think pink campaign, though red can still be used to signify the Frontenac house as well.
Yearly events are held in order to determine the House Champions, with houses competing in homeroom vs. homeroom games, as well as whole school competitions, dubbed "House Wars". On these days students don their house colours, and follow their mascot and flag down to the large gymnasium, where they sit in assigned sections, cheering on the participants from their houses as they compete in various activities.
Layout
Roland Michener Secondary School (RMSS) is a small school, with only two floors that the students are allowed to use. The first floor consists of four hallways, roughly in the shape of a large square. The cafeteria, the spirit gym, the large gym, the administrative offices, and the guidance office are all located on the first floor.
In the middle of the square of hallways is the courtyard, where the students can convene during the warmer months on picnic tables. The first floor also contains classrooms, where English, geography, and various other non-science classes are taught. The lower floor contains the offices for Frontenac House Council, Baldwin House Council, as well as Student Council (the offices are used by students at their leisure). The two-house hallways found on the first floor are, as the offices suggest, Frontenac and Baldwin.
Porcupine Regional School, or PRS, is also located on the lower floor. It is a schooling community within RMSS that focuses its attention on students with developmental hindrances, such as autism.
The second floor consists of one main hallway (Vanier Hall), where the science labs are located. Science classes and math classes are routinely held upstairs, with some history, English and geography classes as well. The second floor has only one used hallway, and another hallway branching off, which is closed to the students. Known as Tupper Hall, this hallway has been closed for years due to declining enrollment.
The second floor of RMSS is where the student offices for Vanier House Council and Tupper House Council are located.
Distinctions
It was originally named "South Porcupine High School".
The school was visited by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, then Prime Minister of Canada, and is named after a former Governor General of Canada, Daniel Roland Michener.
A team from Roland Michener won the 1982–83 national championship of Reach for the Top.
Roland Michener Secondary School is well known in the community for its formidable Terry Fox campaigns, which raises upwards of two thousand dollars each year.
The school has been a mainstay of the Envirothon competition, and once had a provincial 3rd-place finish.
Fundraisers
RMSS is known around the community for its numerous fundraisers, such as Vanier Fun Night, Citrus Campaign, Terry Fox Campaign, Macmillans Sales, Frontenac Food Drive, and Tupper Supper.