The Woodlands School

The Woodlands School in Mississauga, Ontario, is a public high school in the Peel District School Board.

The Woodlands has a diverse student body. The student population represents a variety of countries across the globe and provides a harmonious mix of cultures, religions, and languages. Given this diversity, the school has a solid English as a Second Language (ESL) program to assist new immigrants to the country, and a Peer Assisted Learning (PALS) program. Many of the PALS organizations' volunteers are former ESL students who have now mastered English.

Also, the Woodlands is a Regional Enhanced Learning Centre for the secondary gifted program. Students from the Applewood Acres satellite program also have access to The Woodlands School. Strong student performance, by individuals and teams, consistently places The Woodlands among the top academic schools in the Peel District School Board and Ontario.

As of September 2005, The Woodlands' superintendent is Hal Brooksie and its principal is Jeanne Grey.

History
The Woodlands Senior Public School started in 1969 with 400 students in grades 7 and 8. While the first phase of its present building was under construction, The Woodlands operated in the Springfield Public School building. In September 1970, students and staff moved to the new building, and The Woodlands became a combined elementary and secondary school with its first grade 9 students. Today, The Woodlands has approximately 1,400 students.

The Woodlands was designed to be an open-concept school and unfortunately this idea was not very successful. Thus, after a few years the school was re-organized along traditional lines. As a result, few of the classrooms have windows and are very hot in the summer.

The Woodlands School is a regional centre for the Peel School Board, and through it offers the Enhanced Learning Program. Enhanced students enroll almost exclusively in Enhanced level courses for most academic subjects.

The Woodlands School rannked #8 out of 12 schools in Mississauga. (Public schools only) This school ranked #177 in Ontario. (Fraser institute) The school has dropped its place due to competitions with (new) catholic and public schools.

Upcoming Events
Battle of the Bands date unknown 2008

High school students
Students that are in grades 9 through to 12 are on the semester system and have individual timetables dependent on their course selections. The school year for secondary students has two semesters. Semester One runs from September to mid-January and is followed by examinations.from February to mid-June and is followed by examinations. Each semester is divided into two terms for purposes of mid-term reporting and the delivery of half-credit programs. Progress reports for students are issued after the first month of the semester. Mid-term reports are issued at the end of the first term of each semester. At the outset of each semester, all students receive, in written form, the method used to calculate the term portion of the mark in their subjects.

Elementary students
Elementary students (grades 7 and 8) are on a full-year schedule of three terms with most subjects taught in rotation on a four-day cycle. Report cards for each term are sent home with students in December, March and June. Elementary classes continue throughout the secondary exam periods.

Extracurricular activities
The Woodlands Senior Concert Band is known to achieve a triple gold standing, competing at the 500 level, at MusicFest throughout the past decade. Aside from competitions, the band has also been invited to several music festivals such as the Harrogate International Festival. The band has visited places such as Florida, England, and Germany to participate in musical activities.

Sports teams include: Football, Soccer, Cricket, Badminton, Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Girl's Lacrosse, Cross Country, Track and Field, Tennis, and Archery.

The school is well known for their tremendous cricket teams. The Junior (Gr. 9 & 10) and Senior (Gr. 11 & 12) Cricket teams at The Woodlands have consistently been top performers for the past 7+ years. In fact, in total, they've won more ROPSSAA championships than all the schools in the Peel Region put together. This largely due to the fact that they have won mostly all of the ROPPSSAA championships.

The Woodlands performs very well in competitions such as DECA, CNML, various University of Waterloo math and engineering contests, and various international language competitions.

The Woodlands School also has a strong Drama program, which provides a major production every year. The Drama department also fields very strong competitors in the Sears Festival, and for the past four years a Woodlands School play has moved on the Regional level of the competition at Hart House Theatre in Toronto. "Theatre Shorts" is another drama event which presents a series of one-act plays.

Architecture/Design
Many students from other schools often comment on the jail-like appearance of The Woodlands. Few classrooms have windows which are not incorporated into classroom doors. Originally open-concept, currently the only rooms with views to the outside world are the Shop and Auto rooms, (these windows are near the 20ft. ceiling) various staff rooms, room 109 (the music room), room 118, 116, 121, the cafeteria, and ironically, the Dark Room used for photography. There is a barbed wire fence surrounding a government building located directly beside the parking lot (which many find gloomy), contributing to the afore-mentioned jail-like environment. However, most students are not largely perturbed by these characteristics.

Neighbourhood
The Woodlands School is located within walking distance of several excellent and unique restaurants. These include Henry's Fish and Chips, Mom's and Dad's, Twice the Deal Pizza, John Anderson's, and Sammy's. Furthermore, Westdale Mall is a short distance away from the school, and houses several of the restaurants mentioned above. Also, the neighbourhood is known for its crime and gangs, none of which can really be taken seriously when compared to those in actual cities.