Crescent School (Toronto)

Crescent School

Veritate Stamus Et Crescimus
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates 43°43′57″N 79°22′45″W / 43.732499°N 79.379218°W / 43.732499; -79.379218Coordinates: 43°43′57″N 79°22′45″W / 43.732499°N 79.379218°W / 43.732499; -79.379218
Information
Established 1913
Headmaster Michael Fellin
Campus 30 acres
Endowment $9.008 Million
Website www.crescentschool.org

Crescent School is an independent elementary and secondary boys school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches boys from Grades 3 to 12. Established in 1913 by John William James, the school was situated in several locations in its early years. In 1933, Susan Denton Massey, the aunt of Governor General Vincent Massey, gifted land to the school, making its expansion possible.[1] Today, Crescent School is located in Uptown Toronto, between Lawrence Park and the Bridle Path, operating under the Advanced Placement program with a reputation as a leader in boys' education.[2]

History

Crescent School was founded in September 1913 by its first headmaster, John William James, known as "Jimmy" to his friends. He opened his school to a group of boys at his home at 43 Rosedale Road. The school experienced many changes and financial difficulties in its early days, however the school persisted and became a leader in Canadian boys education. The school moved to its current location on the old Frank P Wood estate in 1970.

In 2014, Sylvia Duckworth, a teacher at Crescent School, was awarded the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence.[3]

House System

Each student at Crescent is a member of one of six houses. Each house is named after notable figures in Canadian history. Each house is governed by a head house captain in the Upper School, while each grade appoints their own captains. The six houses are:

The houses compete for points which culminate in a year end award to whichever house has the most points. The house system is an integral part of Crescent life, and so it has been since its very beginnings when the system was first implemented in the decades after its founding. The original two houses were named the Greens and Greys, respectively.

Facilities

Lau Family Wing In 2011, Crescent opened the Lau Family wing, a C$10.6 Million dollar addition adjacent to the existing Center for Creative Learning (CCL). The Building was named in honour of Ming Wai Lau (Class of 1997),[4] and the Joseph Lau Luen Hung Family Charitable Trust, the main benefactors. Most Middle School classes, as well as some Upper School classes, will be held in the Lau Family Wing.

Fieldhouse In 2002, Crescent opened the "Fieldhouse", a large, white, tent-like structure the size of three average gymnasiums. This replaced the three outdoor tennis courts that had been situated there before.

Latifi Family Commons In September 2014, the Latifi Family Commons, a $3 million (CDN) facility housing Crescent programs including University Counselling and Crescent Student Services was opened. It is named for Michael and Marilena Latifi, current parents at Crescent School.

Athletics

Crescent teams include basketball, hockey, baseball, track and field, rugby, volleyball, badminton, tennis, swimming, soccer, skiing, table tennis, snowboarding, cross country and Ultimate Frisbee. A recent addition to the school's facilities is two artificial turf playing fields. The school has a longstanding record of success in both CISAA[5] and OFSAA.[6]

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Crescent School held athletic events with other private and independent schools in the Greater Toronto Area. These events were often reported on in the Globe & Mail newspaper; the soccer match between the Crescent School and Appleby College held on November 30, 1937 ended in a tie.[7] During this interwar era, the School held an annual boxing tournament with, "...Parents, Old Boys and friends of the School..." invited to attend.[8] In addition to boxing, soccer, and cricket, the School also held an "annual aquatic gala" where prizes were given to the best boys.[9]

Co-curricular programs

Robotics

Since 2000, Crescent has been involved with the FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics,[10][11] an international competition in which professionals and high school students are teamed together to solve an engineering design problem in an intense yet cooperative way. In 2003, the Crescent FIRST Robotics Team won the regional Chairman's Award in recognition of the contribution it has made to the field of Robotics. In 2011, Crescent's Team 610, placed second in both the Waterloo and Greater Toronto Area and placed fifth at the World Championship in St. Louis. Crescent has also participated in another competition, RoboFest. In 2013, Crescent placed first at the BAE Systems Granite State competition. In the same year, the team went on to become the 2013 FIRST Robotics World Champions.

Outreach

Crescent's Outreach initiative emphasizes local, national and international opportunities that take an experiential learning and community service approach. Crescent School has many growing outreach projects in Toronto and around the world. In Toronto, Upper and Middle School students can participate in a tutoring program where they tutor students at two Toronto elementary schools, Willow Park and Firgrove public schools. In order to graduate from the School, students must complete forty hours of volunteer service and are issued a Volunteer Service Handbook to assist them in completing their volunteer work. During the 2013/2014 school year, Crescent students participated in International Outreach trips to Nicaragua, Tanzania, India, South Africa, and Cambodia. In 2015/2016, Crescent School partnered with Havergal College to form the Dignity For All program; the program raised over $50,000 in support of the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

Business Team

The Crescent School Business Team focuses on increasing Upper School students' knowledge of business beyond what is taught within the classroom. Through its numerous sections - DECA, Case Competitions, Investment Team and Junior Business Club - the team also strives to provide invaluable life skills experience such as collaboration, competition, sportsmanship, leadership, problem solving and perseverance.

DECA is a student business competition targeting students from Grade 9 to 12. It prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, management and entrepreneurship. Crescent School competes at the Regional and Provincial level of DECA, and have consistently placed in the top 10 for nine years running. Eight students qualified for Internationals in 2015, and another six qualified for Internationals in 2016.

Case Competitions targets students who are looking to excel beyond DECA with university style and level cases. Crescent School also hosts its own case competition - Crescent School Case competitions. It has been running for over five years, and boasts over nine participating independent schools. Four additional competition dates occur throughout the year for students to participate in.

The Investment Team is a student-run and led, real money investment portfolio started in 2012, and currently manages over $22,500. Students are responsible for developing overall strategy of the portfolio, performing fundamental research and valuation analysis, assessing and recommending investments, presenting to the Investment Team for approval and ultimately presenting to the Investment Committee (a panel of one or more adults from the industry). The Investment Team is continuing to grow its capital base through the generosity of past, current and future parents. Recently, it has started publishing reports to regularly educate (Weekly Economic Report and Bi-Weekly Digest) and update the community on its performance (The Update).

The Junior Business Club introduces grade 9s and 10s to investing, DECA and presentation skills. The aim is to introduce and familiarize students with the Business Program so that they can have a strong foundation as they progress throughout the school.

Admission

Here is the estimated student intake by grade [12] for the school year:

For the 2016/2017 school year, tuition fees are $31,750 per year, which covers the cost of most academic activities.[13]

University placement

Graduates of Crescent School attend universities in Canada, with many students pursuing higher education in the United States and the United Kingdom. From 2004-2014, the most popular Canadian university destinations for graduates in Canada were the University of Western Ontario (25 in 2014), Queen's University (22 in 2014) and the University of Waterloo (5 in 2014). Outside Ontario, graduates have studied at Cornell University, Harvard University, Princeton University, the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and many others.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ http://crescentschool.org/page.aspx?pid=381
  2. ↑ http://crescentschool.org/page.aspx?pid=380
  3. ↑ "Sylvia Duckworth". Government of Canada. October 7, 2014.
  4. ↑ http://www.crescentschool.org/document.doc?id=4322
  5. ↑ http://www.cisaa.ca
  6. ↑ http://www.ofsaa.on.ca
  7. ↑ The Globe & Mail. December 2, 1937, Page 14
  8. ↑ The Globe & Mail. June 1, 1934, Page 10
  9. ↑ The Globe & Mail. June 16, 1937, Page 19
  10. ↑ http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/site/index.php
  11. ↑ http://www.usfirst.org/
  12. ↑ http://crescentschool.org/apply/enrolment-faq
  13. ↑ http://crescentschool.org/apply/guide-to-applying
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