Branksome Hall is a Toronto private girls school for day and boarding students from kindergarten to graduating year. Founded in 1903, the school consists of 12 buildings, the oldest is the 150 year old building on Elm Avenue. The school is an International Baccalaureate World School. Branksome is located at Elm Ave. and Mt. Pleasant, one block north of Bloor St., in Rosedale, Toronto. 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Private schools, or independent schools, are schools not administered by local, state, or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public (state) funds. ... A boarding school is an educational institution where some or all pupils not only study, but they also live, amongst their peers. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area Ranked 4th... Crowded Shibuya, Tokyo shopping district An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Mount Pleasant Henge is a Neolithic henge enclosure in the English county of Dorset. ... Rosedale is the name of more than one place. ...

The school takes students from kindergarten to Grade 12 and bills itself as a prep school for post-secondary education. Branksome is seen as one of the most exclusive all-girls schools in Canada.

Setting

Branksome Hall is situated on 13 acres in Rosedale, one of Toronto's haute neighbourhoods. The campus contains a section of Carolinian forest with an outdoor classroom, four tennis courts, a large lower field used by teams and classes, two playgrounds, and a "quad", where senior students often relax and eat lunch during the warmer months. There are 10 buildings on the Branksome Hall campus: Sherbourne House, Sue Bett House, Read Acres, Ainslie House, MacNeill House, the Principal's Residence, the main building at #10 Elm, Buccleugh House, the Middle School Wing, and the Dean of Student's House. Facilities include a swimming pool, numerous computer labs, an extensive resource centre, four art studios, a state-of-the-art performing arts theatre, and two gyms, one a double gym that may be divided. A new rock climbing wall will be a new addition in the gym by May. It will be accessible by all students.

Extracurricular Activities

There are dozens of clubs at the school that focus on subjects as disparate as animal rights and forensics. Students have formed many musical ensembles of different tastes and styles. Branksome is also very involved in sports and fitness, with teams that excel in sports such as swimming, rowing, and hockey. The school is also represented at conventions such as the International Model United Nations in The Hague and in numerous public speaking and debating tournaments, Canada-wide and international. Branksome Hall is a member of the Fulford League, a group of independent schools that compete in several tournaments each year to achieve the Fulford Cup at the end of the year. Branksome Hall was the first all-girls school to win this cup. A civet, or sea fox, photographed in the Zigong Peoples Zoo, Sichuan, 2001. ... Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. ... Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province South Holland Area (2006)  - Municipality 98. ...

Drama, visual arts, and music are also important to the Branksome community, with several productions put on by both the drama students and other groups throughout the year. Celebrations of art such as Collage and Paper Magnolia happen regularly. The multicultural music, drama and reading show, Infusion, is held every two years. Students' prodigious literary and visual arts creations are celebrated through art shows and several publications including the annual collection Perennial, and the school papers The Kilt Press and the annual "Slogan".

Each new student is sorted into one of eight clans when they arrive at Branksome. The Junior School clans are Robertson, Duncan, Bruce, Johnston, Grant, MacDonald, Gordon, Fraser; and their Middle and Senior School sister clans are Douglas, McLeod, McLean, Ross, Scott, Campbell, MacAlpine, and MacGregor.

Clans

There are 8 clans in Branksome Hall:

• Scott (blue)
• Ross (red)
• Douglas (pink)
• Campbell (purple)
• MacGregor (yellow)
• McAlpine (green)
• MacLean (black)
• McLeod (orange)

Every clan has three leaders, a grade 12 chieftain, a grade 10 chieftain and a grade 8 rep. There are always competitions between clans, ranging from intramurals (dodgeball, ultimate frisbee, floor hockey...etc) to the Terry Fox fundrasiers. Chieftains host Clan Homerooms and Assemblies about once a month to keep the school updated on past and coming clan events. Students are usually encouraged to participate in clan activities, and it is a big part of Branksome's school life.

Other Community Activities

Branksome offers several "communities" within its main student body. Each student is assigned to an Advisor Group. This is a group of students that meet several times during the school's eight-day schedule, and usually consists of 8-10 students and an Advisor teacher. The students in each advisor group all belong to the same clan.

In addition to this each grade is encouraged to become a close community. Each year in May the school hosts a week of grade celebration called "Spirit Week". Normal class continues during this week but is punctuated by lunchtime activities such as tugs-of-war and grade banner painting. The most celebrated events of the week are the lipsync and cheer that occur on the final days. Each grade is assigned a colour, which is used as a way of expressing grade pride. The grade is given a colour in grade 7 and continues with that colour until they graduate, with new grade 7's inheriting the colour of the previous year's graduates. Colours for 2006-2007:

• Grade 7 - Blue
• Grade 8 - Orange
• Grade 9 - Yellow
• Grade 10 - Red
• Grade 11 - Pink
• Grade 12 - Purple

During each day of Spirit Week, students dress in a specific fun way. Traditionally Monday is Crazy Sock Day, followed by Crazy Tie day (Tuesday), Crazy Socks Day (Wednesday), Crazy Torso Day (Thursday) and then Friday is a "Grub Day" where students are free to wear whatever they choose so as long as it meets the dress code. Typically, each grade orders an item of "grade wear" and wears them on Friday. This year the grade 10s (red) won and were also dubbed the "most intense grade". They blew away the school and more importantly the judges with the outstanding theme of "Behind the Red Curtain". Their Lipsync was a combination of different songs from a variety of musicals with an impressive choreographed dance or actions to boot. The Grade 10s also had without a doubt the most impressive and suitable (to their theme) grade wear, which consisted of Sequenced Top hats and red gloves (elbow length). Next years Spirit Week is bound to shock and awe everyone. Who will be the new competition for the Grade 10s now that the Grade 12s are gone? Will anyone ever be able to beat the snazzy girls in red. Spread the Red

In addition to grade pride, last year Branksome organized the "Walk for the World" as a grade event during Spirit Week. This was a walk around Rosedale to raise money for two outreach programs, the Queenstown GAP School in South Africa and the Sheila Bal Bavan Home for Girls in Jaipur, India.

Also, grade 8 and 9 students go to Outward Bound for outdoor camping. This helps them develop leadership skills.

Related

• St. Michael's College School
• Appleby College
• Upper Canada College
• Havergal College
• Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School
• Bishop Strachan School
• Crescent School
• De La Salle College "Oaklands"
• St. Andrew's College (Aurora, Ontario)
• The Sterling Hall School
• St. Michael's Choir School

St. ... Appleby College is a private school (grades 7-12) located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1911 by John Guest, a former Headmaster of the Preparatory School at Upper Canada College. ... Upper Canada College (abbreviated to UCC) is a private elementary and secondary school for boys, founded in 1829. ... Havergal College (shortform Havergal or HC) is a leading independent boarding and day school for girls in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the intersection of Lawrence Avenue and Avenue Road (). It is located down the street from Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute. ... Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School is a girls only high school in Toronto, Ontario, established in 1847 by Catholic Bishop of Toronto Most Rev. ... The Bishop Strachan School (BSS), (IPA: ) named after Anglican Bishop John Strachan, is the oldest day and boarding school for girls in Canada. ... The Frank Porter Wood residence c. ... De La Salle College Oaklands is an independent co-educational Catholic school in Toronto, Ontario. ... St. ... One of the campus buildings of St. ...

External links

Official Websites

• Branksome Hall Official website.