1. History
    Founding  Vaughan Road Academy (1997–2017)  Post-closure 

2. School programs
    International Baccalaureate  INTERACT  Cooperative education  Athletics  Vaughan Vox  Queer-Straight Alliance  Recognition for other activities 

3. School motto

4. School architecture

5. Notable alumni

6. See also

7. References

8. External links

Vaughan Road Academy (VRA) is a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) facility that formerly operated as International Baccalaureate high school. It is located in the Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the York district. Previously known as Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute, the former school is situated at the Vaughan Road and Winona Drive intersection, close to Oakwood Avenue. It worked in partnership with the J.R. Wilcox and Cedarvale Community Schools, and from 1998 until the school's closure, it offered the IB Diploma Programme for students in grades 11 and 12. In addition to the International Baccalaureate, it has also had cooperative education and INTERACT programs. The school ceased to exist as an operating school on June 30, 2017, due to low enrollment and the building remains under TDSB possession to be used as a holding school (i.e. a school used to hold another school's staff and students on a temporary basis).

History

Founding

Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute (VRCI) was the first high school built in York Township, the forerunner of the Borough of York. Construction of VRCI began in July 1926 and the cornerstone was laid by Lieutenant-Governor Henry Cockshutt in September 1926. The building was designed by architect George Roper Gouinlock, son of George Wallace Gouinlock.^[4] George Evans, the first principal,^[5] served from 1926 to 1957. In April 1927, the students moved into the school from temporary quarters in portables at Rawlinson Public School.

Vaughan Road Academy (1997–2017)

In 1997, the school was renamed Vaughan Road Academy, and began offering advanced academic, arts and athletic programs. It began offering the International Baccalaureate program in 1998.^[6] Vaughan Road Academy students also began wearing school uniforms as well.

A section of Vaughan Road Academy is used as a community daycare centre as well, even after the school's closure.

The school closed on its 90th anniversary at the end of the 2016–17 school year on June 2017 citing low attendance operating at approximately 20% of its capacity (as compared with the 1970s and the 1980s when the school was overcapacity, reaching capacity again during the mid-2000s and declined since then). Many students who live in the school's catchment area end up attending other nearby high schools such as Forest Hill Collegiate Institute to the east, which is overcapacity, as well as the nearby Oakwood Collegiate Institute to the south, which is absorbing most of the remaining students and programs.^[1][2]

Cynthia "Cindy" Zwicker-Reston was the school's final principal.

Post-closure

The facility, renamed 529 Vaughan Road, is used as a temporary school for students of Davisville Public School and Spectrum Alternative School beginning in the 2018–19 school year to accommodate the construction of a new school building in the Yonge and Davisville area in Midtown Toronto to replace the previous school building there. Students in the Yonge and Davisville area are bused to 529 Vaughan Road.^[7][8]

School programs

International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program allows students to earn an IB Diploma, while also earning the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (O.S.S.D.), which increases a student's chance of acceptance into universities worldwide. Vaughan Road Academy's International Baccalaureate program closed with the school in June 2017. All remaining students who wish to finish the program are doing so at Weston Collegiate Institute in Weston to the northwest since September 2017.

INTERACT

The INTERACT program is for students in the school who are heavily involved in the arts or athletics program outside of school. These students have flexible schedules to accommodate their auditions, rehearsals, performances, competitions, etc. The program is mostly done in small group settings and whenever possible, the teachers can design assignments that incorporate the student's interest as well (such as a history assignment researching on the music of a certain historical era when the student is interested in music). Notable alumni of the INTERACT program include Drake, Ellen Page,^[9] Alison Pill, Mark Rendall, and Tyler Nella. The program moved to nearby Oakwood Collegiate Institute in September 2017.

Cooperative education

Cooperative education, or Co-op, is a structured method of combining academic education with practical work experience. It is a four-credit semester program and at Vaughan Road, it is offered in World of Work (3) and Business English (1). The program is open to all students who are 16 years old and have completed sixteen credits. This program offers youth a chance to "try out" a career while they can still afford the chance to explore, gain and develop good work habits and experience for the future, and test their skills and knowledge learnt at school in the work place.

Athletics

Vaughan Road Academy had interscholastic and intramural teams for badminton, ball hockey, baseball, basketball, cricket, cross country running, flag football, hockey, soccer, softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field and volleyball and knuckeballs.

Vaughan Road competed in TDSSAA and Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) as the Vaughan Road Vipers, which was not to be confused with a similarly named junior hockey team in Vaughan, Ontario.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}

In 2004, the Vipers came second in the OFSAA 'AA' Provincial Championships and won the OFSAA 'AA' Provincial Championships in 2012.

Since the school's closure, Vaughan Road Vipers disbanded.

Vaughan Vox

Vaughan Road Academy had a school newspaper, once known as "The Von{{sic}} Vox, then "The Vaughan Vox", though it was sometimes simply called the "Vox". Typically, it was released twice a year. It was usually eight pages long and covered a range of school activities and issues.

Queer-Straight Alliance

Vaughan Road Academy had a large and active Queer-Straight Alliance until the school's closure in 2017. Founded in 2006 as a Gay-Straight Alliance by a small group of grade 12 students, it was reactivated in 2010. The organization works to combat homophobia in the school and to create a safe environment for Queer students and those who support them. They have hosted guest speakers, including Farrah Khan and Brent Hawkes. In 2013, the group renamed itself the Queer-Straight Alliance.

Recognition for other activities

Vaughan Road students have participated in competitions such as the annual Sears Ontario Drama Festival, where several of the top awards for 2006 went to VRA students,^[10] and the International Olympiad in Informatics, where a VRA student received a gold medal in 2005 and silver medals in 2004 and 2006.^[11] In 2013, the short film "Homecoming," produced by grade twelve students in the Vaughan Road Academy film program, was shown in the TIFF Bell Lightbox "Jump Cuts" film festival. The following year, in 2014, Vaughan Road film students had another film in the "Jump Cuts" festival, "Nightlight."

School motto

The school motto is a quote from the fourth book of Vergil's Georgics which describes the behavior and society of bees: In Medium Quaesita Reponunt, which means "They lay up in store for common use whatever they have gained".

The motto suggests Vaughan Road students are in the school for the purpose of searching for and acquiring the knowledge and skills which may be used for the benefit of the community at large. The word "Quaesita" suggests effort sustained over a long period of time and also the application of the mind towards the attainment of a purpose. The words "In Medium" show that the purpose is not a selfish one, that students are aiming to prepare themselves for service to society.

School architecture

VRA, or Vaughan as it is affectionately known, from above appears as a near-isosceles right angle triangle with enclosed courtyard (in which a daycare for Vaughan students' children operates) of the same shape; the overall aerial view's reminiscence of The Pentagon lending the building the moniker "The Triagon". While the school letter is predictably "V" as chosen from the Latin alphabet, the lesser-known Greek school letter, Delta, is derived from the building's shape; as in the sciences Delta denotes change.

The first wing of the school was built in 1926, the second in 1931, and the third, which closed the "L" and turned it into a triangle, in 1967.

Notable alumni

• Cameron Ansell (1992-), voice actor for Arthur Read. Enrolled in INTERACT
• Gord Ash (1951-), general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1995 to 2001.^[12]
• Neve Campbell (1973-), film and television actress.
• Drake (1986-), actor and musician^[13]
• Sidney J. Furie (1933-), film director^[14]
• Keir Gilchrist (1992-), Actor, The Next Generation. Enrolled in INTERACT
• Stathis Kappos (1979-), professional soccer player.
• Don Harron (1924-2015), actor, author, and broadcaster.^[15][16]
• William Hutt (1920–2007), actor, director, Companion of the Order of Canada (1969), Order of Ontario (1992)^[17]
• Bob Kaplan (1936-), former MP who was Solicitor General of Canada from 1980 to 1984.

• Monte Kwinter (1931-), member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1985.
• Larry D. Mann (1922-2014), actor best known for voicing the character Yukon Cornelius in the animated Christmas classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
• Anne Michaels (1958-), author, winner of the Trillium Prize, the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award
• Charles Pachter (1942-), contemporary artist, Order of Canada recipient^[18]
• Ellen Page (1987-), best known for her role in the film Juno and played Kitty Pryde in The Last Stand.
• Marita Payne-Wiggins (1960-), former track and field athlete and two-time Olympic silver medallist; mother of Andrew Wiggins and wife of Mitchell Wiggins
• Alison Pill (1985-), actress who is best known for the HBO drama The Newsroom, the Toronto-based movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in The Lieutenant of Inishmore. INTERACT
• Brandon Pirri (1991-), Drafted 2nd round to the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Chicago Blackhawks in 2009. Enrolled in INTERACT
• Mark Rendall (1988-), actor who was Ellen Page's classmate in the Interact program
• Dr. Steven Renzetti (1960-2017), Professor of Economics, Brock University
• Siluck Saysanasy, (1974-), Laotian-Canadian television actor best known for playing Yick Yu, a character from the Degrassi series. INTERACT
• Dr. Arthur Leonard Schawlow (1921–1999), research scientist, educator, Nobel Laureate (1981), Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Stanford University^[19]
• Melinda Shankar (1992-), actress on the Canadian hit The Next Generation. Enrolled in INTERACT
• Robyn Urback (1988-), National Post columnist and editorial board member.^[12][16]
• Al Waxman (1935–2001), actor, broadcaster, author, philanthropist, Order of Ontario (1996), Order of Canada (1997).^[12][16]
• Samantha Weinstein (1995-), film and television actress^[20]

See also

• List of high schools in Ontario

References

External links

• Vaughan Road Academy
• Rushowy, Kristin. "[https://www.thestar.com/article/415469 Trustees move ahead on school closings]." Toronto Star. Thursday April 27, 2008.
• TDSB Vaughan Road Academy Closure Report
• Vaughan Road Academy Tribute Program 2017
• Vaughan Road Academy on TOBuilt

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