Victoria School of the Arts

Victoria School of the Arts (formerly Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts, and previously Victoria Composite High School) is a public school in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada operated by Edmonton Public Schools, offering students from Kindergarten through Grade 12 an International Baccalaureate aligned, arts-focused education, and is recognized as one of the top arts-focused schools in North America.[1][2]

Victoria School of the Arts
Address
10210 108 Avenue NW

Edmonton
,
Alberta
,
T5H 1A8

Canada
Coordinates53°33′13″N 113°29′46″W
Information
Former namesEdmonton High School, Victoria Composite High School, Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts
School typePublic K-12 Arts and IB
MottoInspiring Creativity
Established1911
School boardEdmonton Public Schools
PrincipalBrad Burns
GradesK–12
Enrolment1,860
LanguageEnglish
Colour(s)Red and White          
Team nameVictoria Phoenix
NewspaperThe Victoria Voice Newspaper thevictoriavoice.com
ProgramsInternational Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme.
Websitevictoria.epsb.ca

About

The school is an International Baccalaureate World School, and offers the complete continuum of IB programmes for grades K-12: the only school in Canada to do so.[3] Victoria is also one of a handful of schools in Canada that offers the new International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme.[4][5] There are five programs students may pursue: Design and New Media, Visual Arts, Theatre, Dance, and Music. The arts are also integrated into academic classes within a framework of inquiry based learning.[6]

The school is home to the Edmonton Potters Guild,[7] and the Eva O. Howard Theatre, which is used extensively by the school and the community.[8]

History

The school built at this location in 1911 was known as Edmonton High School.[9] New buildings were constructed in the late 1940s and early 1950s which became known as Victoria Composite High School or "Vic Comp" for short.

In 1985, Bob Maskell took over the position of school principal with the intention of transforming the school from a vocational school with low enrolment and a bad reputation to a K-12 arts-based alternative school. He sold off the vocational equipment to finance large-scale renovations, and recruited a staff qualified in a broad range of arts disciplines. Victoria Composite High School was renamed Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts. Because of the work of Maskell, Victoria School of the Arts has become one of the top arts-focused schools in North America.[1][2]

In addition to its academic and arts programs, Victoria School is known for its cheer teams. The 1994 Large Squad team won the Suzutan World Cheerleading Championships in Nagoya, Japan.[10] Edmonton's Victoria School coed Cheer Team has won more than 200 cheerleading championship trophies, including 24 provincial and 25 city championships, and continues to compete in global competitions today. The National Cheerleaders Association USA Summer Camp trophy was renamed from the All-American Award to the Top Team Award as a result of the Victoria coed Team's many wins.[11]

Over the 1990s and 2000s, Victoria School expanded its offerings to include Junior High and Elementary programs in addition to its existing Senior High program to fulfill Maskell's vision of a complete continuum of arts programming.[12]

The senior high library was destroyed by a deliberately set fire in April 2007, costing over $3 million in damages. the perpetrator admitted to setting the fire in 2010—a 24-year-old male who was not one of the school's students.[13]

Victoria School underwent a major modernization that finished in 2011, which saw many wings demolished, replaced and/or retrofitted. Coinciding with its centennial and the completion of its modernization, the school renewed its logo, shortened its name to Victoria School of the Arts, and replaced the offensive and outdated team name Victoria Redmen with simply Victoria Athletics.[14]

In spring 2020, principal Brad Burns announced Victoria’s new team name, the Victoria Phoenix, to replace Victoria Athletics in an effort to renew the school’s alternative focus on athletics.

Arts

Theatre

Each year, a selection of work is performed at the school in the Eva O. Howard Theatre. Usually, two larger productions (one musical, one play) are featured as "Main Stage" shows. These plays or musicals are the largest events in the arts season at Victoria School. Large casts and week-long runs allow students to perform on the main stage in big productions, and satisfy the course requirements for either Theatre Performance 15, 25 and 35 or Musical Theatre 15, 25 and 35.

Each performance has different grade-level restrictions, with one per year typically being open to senior high (grades 10-12) students and one open to secondary (grades 7-12) students, with occasional performances only open to junior high (grades 7-9) students or students in grades 4-12.

Students are chosen for roles through a group audition process held in September every year in which every show in the season is cast. The cast lists for every ensemble throughout the year are posted in the last week of September.

List of Main Stage Shows

Note: plays without a link may be devised creations

Events

PlayWorks Festival

PlayWorks is a student directed one act festival that occurs every April. Students in Directing 35 go through a play selection process, hold group auditions and callbacks, run rehearsals, and have complete control over every aspect of their chosen play.

PlayWorks is open to actors in grade 8–12 and includes a wide variety of theatre pieces.

The Festival is adjudicated by a notable theatre professional who watches the shows and reflects on the work with the students. It has become an opportunity for the students to receive feedback from professionals, and making it a point not to judge or grade the work. In recent years, the adjudication has been the work of Scott Swan, a notable Canadian director whose work has been seen across the country.

Leaps and Bounds

An annual dance show featuring student choreographed work. This two night showcase has been a staple in Victoria's art season for decades, and is designed to satisfy the presentation component of the IB Dance program for the 20 and 30 level, as well as Composition 35. Composition teaches students the process of choreography. Each student develops a concept and from that develops a dance. The process has 5 main parts:

  • Concept development
  • Auditions
  • Rehearsals
  • Performance
  • Reflection

This class offers young choreographers a strong foundation in the task of creation. In Dance 20 IB, students work to create solo compositions, moving into choreographing for groups of dancers in the 30 level. Each student gains important artistic skills and experience through the process.

In addition, Leaps and Bounds 15, 25 and 35 are also a continuum of locally developed courses for dancers who participate in the process and perform in the show.

Festival of the Arts

In the spring of 2010, Victoria hosted the first ever 'Festival of the Arts' which brought together all three levels of school and all the different art disciplines in a large two-day celebration. Events were presented all over the school, allowing parents, students and staff to spend time taking in performances and looking at student work all over the school. This large-scale event was held a second time in the spring of 2011 and also served as the official opening of the newly renovated building and the celebration Victoria's centennial. A large event was held in the courtyard area of the school and was attended by The Mayor of Edmonton, Stephen Mandel as well as the Premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach. The event also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the school becoming an arts school, so Bob Maskell spoke as well. The event concluded with a student-led flash mob. The school announced that the event would be held every two years. Recently, two festivals were held in May/June 2016 and May/June 2018, with one scheduled for May/June 2020.

Arthur Hiller Student Film Festival

The Arthur Hiller Student Film Festival, was named in honor of Arthur Hiller, an alumnus of the school. Mr. Hiller, a notable Hollywood director, has returned many times to share his wealth of knowledge and life experience with the students. As a thank you to Hiller, in 2007 the school named their annual student film festival after him. When the school asked Hiller if they could use his name for the festival, he wasn't sure. However, after hearing that students wanted to run and lead it, he was convinced. He agreed as long as the word "student" was in the festival name. He wanted it to be about the students, not him. In 2009, the festival featured a new element: a film making challenge in which two teams of students attempted to plan, shoot, edit and present a five-minute short in two hours. This challenge took place simultaneously with the annual film showcase. As the featured films were playing, backstage in the theater, two teams were busy shooting. The audience was kept in the loop through the use of a live feed. This version of the festival was entirely student-run as the goal of the festival was to show current students' work, and also to have alumni share work too, much like the way Hiller himself returned to share his knowledge with students. The festival was discontinued following the 2009 year, due primarily to a lack of support from staff. Plans to bring it back are being discussed but no formal plans have yet been announced.

VIESTA

VIESTA is an event held by Victoria School every second year in June, the years opposing the Festival of the Arts. The main goal of this event is to raise money for Victoria's sister school. At VIESTA, students have the opportunity to sell their creations, such as food, art, crafts or content to the rest of the school, and donate a minimum of 30% of the profit to the sister school. The event is accompanied by an indie stage, where students can perform. In 2016, this event was held in conjunction with the Festival of the Arts. It was later announced that it would be held every other year, in opposition with the Festival of the Arts. The latest VIESTA was held in June 2019.

In 2015, the VIESTA event was put on hold due to a stabbing at the Royal Alexandra Hospital nearby with the suspect at large, triggering a lockdown.[15]

Building
Inner courtyard with playground

The school has a variety of facilities available to its students, including:

  • Two full-size gymnasiums
  • Fitness centre
  • Full-service cafeteria
  • Marguerite Trussler Library
  • Science labs
  • Three choral and band rooms
  • Four dance studios
  • Art gallery
  • Media labs
  • Audio studio
  • 685-seat Eva O. Howard Theatre[8]

The school underwent a major modernization that finished in 2011 which replaced large portions of the school. The newly built section was built on unoccupied space on the grounds to allow for phased demolition, and provided the school with a courtyard with an inner playground. Two sections remain from the reconstruction, one was completely renovated and repurposed, while the other was left untouched and maintains the look and feel of the old building, which includes the Eva O. Howard Theatre.

As part of the 1990s revitalization project the 150 wing of the school was painted with a series of murals depicting trees. The wing became known as "The Tree Hallway" among students and staff, which was just one of the many areas of the school with permanent art installations. Due to the reconstruction of the building in 2009, The Tree Hallway, along with many other murals and art in the old building were demolished.[16] Permanent art installations are slowly finding their way into the new building.

Notable Alumni
gollark: > 1. multiple layers of sandboxing (a "system" layer that implements a few things, a "features" layer that implements most of potatOS's inter-sandboxing API and some features, a "process manager" layer which has inter-process separation and ways for processes to communicate, and a "BIOS" layer that implements features like PotatoBIOS)Seems impractical, although it probably *could* fix a lot of problems
gollark: There's a list.
gollark: Lots of them.
gollark: Features.
gollark: I'll admit the code is a bit bad now but PotatOS Hypercycle is coming soon with *major* refactors.

References
  1. Vykydal, Jan (May 30, 2011). "Victoria school turns 100". Edmonton Examiner. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  2. Young, JoAnne (May 2001). "A System of Building Franchises". The School Administrator. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  3. "Find an IB World School". International Baccalaureate®. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  4. "Victoria School of the Arts". International Baccalaureate®. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  5. "Do parents influence the choices of teen voters?". Edmonton Journal. January 20, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  6. "Arts". victoria.epsb.ca. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  7. "About Us". edmontonpottersguild. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  8. "Theatre Rental". victoria.epsb.ca. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  9. "Victoria School". Edmonton's Architectural Heritage. Edmonton Historic Board. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  10. "Edmonton Eskimos Cheer Team: Coach/Choreographer: Dianne". CHED (AM). Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  11. "City's champions of cheer:". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  12. "AASA | American Association of School Administrators". www.aasa.org. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  13. "Guilty plea in Victoria school arson | Edmonton | News | Edmonton Sun". web.archive.org. 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  14. "'Inside, it bothered you': Edmonton school gets rid of Redmen sports logo". Global News. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  15. Parrish, Julia (2015-06-05). "Lockdown at school lifted, search continues for assault suspect". Edmonton. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  16. "Construction now an art form at Victoria School". Edmonton Journal. October 3, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  17. "Who's Who – Arthur Roy Brown". FirstWorldWar.co. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  18. "Alumni". Victoria School of Visual and Performing Arts. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  19. Warrender, Susan (2003). Alberta Titans: From Rags to Riches During Alberta's Pioneer Days. Heritage House Publishing Co. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  20. "City moving to honour Leslie Nielsen". iNews880. January 12, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  21. Brennan, Brian (December 13, 2001). "Broadway Joe was pillar of the Citadel". Business Edge. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  22. "Top 20 Canadian moments of 2008". National Post. April 2, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  23. "Victoria School Museum and Archives Society". Alberta Museums Association. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  24. "Josh Wingrove - White House Reporter, Bloomberg News". Ryerson University School of Journalism. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
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