Iroquois Ridge High School

Iroquois Ridge High School
Address
1123 Glenashton Drive
Oakville, Ontario, L6H 5M1
Canada
Information
School type High school
Founded 1994
School board Halton District School Board
Superintendent Stuart Miller
Area trustee Kelly Amos
School number 3-2019 (internal)
Principal Mrs.White
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1358 (September 2015)
Language English, French Immersion
Colour(s) Blue and Green
Mascot Barry the Blazer
Website www.irhs.ca

Iroquois Ridge High School is a secondary school located in the suburbs of Oakville, Ontario. It often referred to as IRHS or The Ridge.

Layout

Iroquois Ridge High School has three storeys, each of which is dedicated to a particular academic field. The first floor is dedicated to courses relating to business studies, the arts, technologies, and physical education. The second floor is devoted almost entirely to modern languages, social studies, and computer sciences, as well as being home to the library and three computer labs. The third floor holds math classrooms and science labs.

The school's main hallway is a large atrium which extends up all three storeys, and has a large skylight which covers the entire ceiling. It is nicknamed "The Street" because of its planted trees, old-fashioned street lights, and the fact that the classroom windows on either side make it seem as though one is walking between two buildings.

The school has three primary staircases that go from the first floor up to the third, which are located in the center of the street and at the front and back doors. There is also a staircase in the street going directly to the second floor, and one in the back going from the second floor down to the football field on the east side of the building.

The school has eleven exits, which are located in the front and back entranceways, the Personal and Career Counselling (PCC) office, the daycare, the Communications Technology (CommTech) lab, each of the two art rooms, the art hallway entrance, the cafeteria, and two exits to the field.

The school also has various concealed exits used in emergencies.

Facilities

For recreation, Iroquois Ridge High School has a large gymnasium, a soccer/football field surrounded by a 400m track including a long jump pit, and a fitness centre. Across from the school is the Iroquois Ridge Community Centre which houses a 25 metre swimming pool and a public library. There are also two lit baseball parks behind the school that are maintained by the Town of Oakville. As well, a field hockey/soccer field and a tennis court are located adjacent to the school which are also maintained by the Town of Oakville. The school itself also houses a library, two art rooms, two music rooms, an auto workshop, a construction workshop, a theatre, a cafeteria, and numerous computer and science labs.

Rivalries

Iroquois Ridge High School has a strong rivalry with White Oaks Secondary School. Prior to the construction of IRHS, students living in the area were attending WOSS, the closest public high school. When the school was constructed and WOSS's population divided, a rivalry ensued.

In June 2009, IRHS was vandalized by WOSS students who also stole all the trees planted earlier that week by the school's environmental team straight out of the ground. WOSS was held responsible for this act because "WOSS '09" was signed over various external doors and windows on the first level. The culprits were later found to, in fact, be students of White Oaks Secondary School.

The other major rivalry is with Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School (HT). HT is a Catholic high school in the same area of Oakville as Iroquois Ridge. Many students easily identify the high schools as opposites. IRHS is considered to be the academic powerhouse of North Oakville while HT is considered to be the athletic powerhouse of North Oakville. Whenever either school gets into the other school's area of expertise, an instant rivalry ensues.

Accomplishments

During the 1998-1999 school year, teachers were in a legal strike position when Iroquois Ridge students rallied together to organize a sit in support of the hard working teachers. This peaceful protest was held in the front hall of the school with encouraging speeches; local media covered the events. During the 2004-2005 school year, the school was in the CTV late night news for collecting over $800 in under 20 minutes for tsunami relief help. The school's Global Issues Council runs the Halloween 4 Hunger Food Drive, which collects over 3,000 non-perishable food items for the Oakville Fairshare Foodbank each year. The Council also runs World Vision's 30 Hour Famine and raises more than $10,000 each year. In October 2006, the school set a world record for the most number of people "standing against something" (part of the school's "Stand for Sudan" project), which was published in the 2007 edition of the Guinness World Records. In 2007, Stephen Lewis came to Iroquois Ridge to honor the students for raising $21,000 towards the Stephen Lewis foundation. In the school year 2009-2010, with a $6.2-million infusion from the Province, Iroquois Ridge became one of the first secondary schools in Ontario with the installation of 25 large solar panels on the roof of the school. This was the class of 2010's graduating gift. In May 2011, the school raised $48,000 during its Relay For Life event for cancer.

The original pink football game started at Iroquois Ridge.

Overall, Iroquois is focused on academic and athletic achievements but also to contributing to a larger community, whether it be a town, a country, or the world.

As of 2009-2010, Iroquois Ridge High School is ranked #16 out of the 727 public secondary schools in Ontario, and #1 in the Halton District.[1]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fraser Institute School Report Cards

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.