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Bishop Strachan School

The Bishop Strachan School (BSS), named after Anglican Bishop John Strachan, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious day and boarding schools for girls in Toronto, Canada. It was founded by John Langtry in 1867 as an institution different from most other schools for young women at that time. It was, for one, not Catholic, which was attractive for the many Anglican families in Canada. It was also not a very pricey finishing school, making it affordable enough for middle- and upper-middle-class families. From its beginning, the school educated young women to become accomplished in academics, offering university entrance subjects such as Latin even before most universities admitted women.

The school has about 850 day and boarding students; girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 (approximately ages 4-17). The boarding program starts in grade 7, and boarders come from all over Canada and the world. While the school is still Anglican in tradition, students are from all faiths.

Like many other private schools throughout the Commonwealth, BSS's traditions are based on similar schools in Britain. Senior formal leaders in their graduating year are called prefects, the students must wear uniforms, and each student is a member of a house.

BSS offers Advanced Placement courses in about 17 subjects and is a top-ranked school in terms of AP success.

The current Head of School is Kim Gordon.

In 2004, the school welcomed the addition of a new Junior School wing, along with an arts centre and new athletic facilities. The construction cost $16 million. A new student centre was completed in April 2007.

Student Life

Students gather in the Chapel every morning for announcements, skits, and a short religious service. About once a month, the prefects hold an Assembly in the gym in place of Chapel. Until the 1970s, students had to wear chapel veils.

Houses: Students are divided into one of twelve day houses. The houses are named after prominent members of the school community, including teachers and leaders in various capacities.

The houses are:
Acres: Black and white (penguin)
Dupont: Purple (purple monkey)
Grier: Red (devil)
Griffith: Brown (moose)
Lamont: Silver and gold (unicorn)
Langtry: Yellow (Big Bird)
Macnaughton: Pink (the Pink Panther)
Marling: Navy blue (Mickey Mouse)
Nation: Pale Blue (hippo)
Pyper: Plaid (dragon)
Rosseter: Orange (tiger)
Walsh: Green (turtle)

These houses are informally paired with UCC "brother" houses.

The present house system was created in the early 1970s to replace the old "team" system of single Greek letters. Eight houses existed until 2002 when an additional two were added (Lamont and Dupont). In 2004, another two houses (Pyper and Griffith) were added for a total of twelve. Each house has a mascot and a representative colour. The houses compete for the Cadbury Bell Cup, which is awarded to the house whose members show the most spirit and involvement in school life.

There are also two boarding houses to which boarders belong in addition to their 'day house': St. Monica's and St. Hilda's. Throughout the year, there are various house competitions between the boarding houses.

Academics

BSS offers Advanced Placement courses in: European History, American History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Human Geography, Latin, Spanish Language, French Language, English Language + Composition, English Literature, Calculus, Statistics, Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science.

In addition to the wide range of AP courses available, BSS' Course of Study, available at www.bss.on.ca, shows a vast array of course options for students.

The Junior School is renowned for its unique Reggio-inspired, inquiry-based approach to early childhood learning, and focuses particularly on the learning needs of girls. Recently students from the Junior School participated in Ontario-wide testing (EQAO) for Grades 3 and 6 and scored well above the provincial average in reading, writing and mathematics. The Junior School recently moved into new quarters on campus in a building that was specifically designed for students this age. The bright new facility maximizes the environment as part of the learning process that is integral to the Reggio approach.

The Senior School is a place where girls receive individual attention from qualified teachers and can work with technologies such as Computer Aided Design software and a 3-Dimensional printer used by engineering professionals to create prototypes. The school offers a wide range of courses, both in the more traditional subjects as well as highly developed and unique credit courses such as Film and Robotics.

BSS offers students beyond the walls an opportunity to take credit courses through its e-academy (www.eacademy.on.ca). BSS students also take these courses allowing them to study with fellow students around the world.

Summer continues the tradition with a Summer Academy offering a multitude of high school credit courses for all students, male or female.

Arts

BSS has recently launched its new Centre for Arts and Design which is located in its former Junior School space, with programs occurring throughout the school. The Centre provides students with an opportunity to work in and among all artistic disciplines drawing on one another in a collaborative, creative community.

BSS has extensive programs for dance, music, visual arts, dramatic arts, film and media. The school uses professional-grade software in all of its artistic programs including Final Cut Pro for film and Garage Band for music scoring. The photography program has seen student work presented at Toronto's city-wide photography festival, Contact, for two years in a row.

Dance: More than 100 students participate in the dance program. All students of dance perform at the Dance Show, held in May, and many participate in the school musical.

Music: Some ensembles include: Senior Band, Intermediate Band, Stage Band, Intermediate Stage Band and Brass Ensemble for wind players; Senior Strings and Intermediate Strings; Senior Choir and Intermediate Choir. The Senior Band ensembles have participated and achieved gold standard at Kiwanis and MusicFest.

Dramatic Arts: BSS stages a classical production and a musical annually with UCC. Recent classical productions include The Duchess of Malfi (2008), Macbeth (2007), King Lear (2006), Medea (2005), Hamlet (2004) and Antigone (2003). Recent musical productions include Hair (2008)Sweet Charity (2007), Footloose (2006), West Side Story (2005), Blood Brothers (2004), Working (2003) and Cabaret (2002). There are many performance nights throughout the year, showcasing girls of all ages. Canadian actress Sarah Polley has given workshops at BSS.

Athletics

BSS is represented by teams of various age levels in the following sports:

Archery
Badminton
Basketball
Cross country running
Cross country skiing
Curling
Downhill Skiing
Field hockey
Gymnastics
Ice hockey
Soccer
Softball
Swimming
Track and Field
Tennis
Volleyball

Many BSS teams compete at OFSAA.

Club teams:

Fencing
Rugby

Athletic Accomplishments

The Archery team won Gold in the Girl's Olympic category at OFSAA for three consecutive years (2005 , 2006 , 2007 ).

Interesting facts

Taiwan's top model, Lin Chi-Ling is an alumnus.
While BSS does many of its activities with the all boys' Upper Canada College (UCC), the boys' school is not BSS's historical brother school. That would be Trinity College School in Port Hope, which became co-ed in the early 1990s.
The school's current slogan is "Girls Can Do Anything."
BSS has an intense rivalry with Havergal College, which was established as a low church alternative to the former. On "Hockey Night" each year, the varsity hockey teams of each school face off for the Foster Hewitt Trophy. This year, BSS won the match and took home the Trophy.
The 2002 Disney Channel original movie "Get a Clue" starring Lindsay Lohan was filmed at this school.
Each year, BSS participates in a "Spirit Week" where the grades compete against each other by showing their spirit. Usually, the Graduating Class wins.
BSS Graduates are called "Old Girls"
The Grade 12 class is affectionately known as the "Grads"
The school is mentioned in two novels by John Irving; A Prayer for Owen Meany (along with the parish of Grace Church on the Hill, to which the school has a historical link ) and Until I Find You.