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General Information

Pickering High School, Ajax Ontario Canada was founded in 1951 and is an established part of the Durham District School Board. The school name known as Pickering High by most individuals is located at 180 Church Street North and can be reached with postal code L1T 247. The current principle of the school is Phil Matsushita and he has 4 vice principals to aid him, and they are “Alison Evanoff, Jean-Louis Poulin, Denise Robinson, Karla Torrente”. It is important to have strong leadership committee within high schools as “Principals were expected to have close knowledge of instruction in their schools’ classrooms and considerable influence on its direction”. Pickering High is a public high school covers grades 9-12 with additional year available for part-time students who wish to improve or in need of more credits. The school consists of 13 academic departments “each with a Department Head who reports to the administration team”. It is important that the school has 13 different academic departments because as in Inventing secondary education: the rise of the high school in nineteenth-century Ontario it states “distinct programs of study; but in one way or another such differentiation had been the fundamental goal”. So as students initiate their high school lives having a different course selection of that in elementary will help them transition and differentiate the levels of education they will be receiving. Pickering High School is a large school that consists “of just over 2000 students reflects the cultural and socioeconomic diversity of the community”. Having a large school with lots of opportunity is important in the development of future leaders as “Leadership development for high school students involves a process that occurs over time, one classroom conversation, one group project, and one extracurricular activity at a time”. So as this is considered a large school it needs the “commitment by approximately 125 teachers and support staff”. The teachers and support staff of the school help build a positive learning environment for students and visitors which in result builds a greater community. As stated in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity “Many factors like classroom behavior, self-esteem, self-image, school satisfaction and school connectedness have been postulated as determinants of academic achievement”. It is important that students within Pickering High School have a copious amount of choices as seen in academic departments to study and clubs to join so they feel a sense of connectedness. The mascot in which this school takes pride in elevating moral is the strong Trojan warrior which can also carry further to their teams and clubs among other school in the Greater Toronto Area.

Other Schools's Within Durham District School Board

.Pickering High School is a part of the Durham District School Board which covers the vast greater Toronto Area. Pickering High School is part of 22 other schools that the Durham District School Board covers. The other schools that Pickering High School is compared with and also competes in clubs and other activities with are as followed; Ajax High School; Anderson Collegiate Vocal Institute; Brock High School, Donald A. Wilson Secondary School; Dunbarton High School; Durham Alternative Secondary School; Durham Continuing Education; Eastdale Collegiate Vocal Institute; Grove School; G. L. Roberts Collegiate Vocal Institute; Henry Street High School; J. Clark Richardson Collegiate; Maxwell Heights Secondary School; O’Neill Collegiate Vocal Institute; Oshawa Central Collegiate Institute; Pine Ridge Secondary School, Port Perry High School; R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate Vocal Institute; Sinclair Senior School. Brooklyn Senior School; and Uxbridge Senior School.

Academic Departments

1) Business 2) Canadian World Studies 3) Co-operative Education 4) English 5) Library 6) Mathematics 7) Modern Languages 8) Physical and Health Education 9) Science 10) Social Science and Humanities 11) Special Education 12) Technology 13) Visual Arts, Music and Drama

Hours of Operation

Pickering High School’s general hours of operation during the week for students is from 8:30 - 2:30 (Pickering High School, 2013). During this time the school hours are broken down into 4 periods of classes which depend on each individual’s class selection. The Pickering High School schedule goes as followed for week days; Period 1 from 8:30am – 9:50am; Period 2 from 9:55am – 11:10am; Lunch from 11:10am – 12pm, Third period from 12pm – 1:15pm; Period 4 from 1:20pm – 2:35pm.

News of Pickering High and Students

(2010). After reading the article labelled Pickering on track for unprecedented double from The Star the school would be pleased. It states that “Pickering teammates Yazin Joseph (left) and Jesse St. jean head for a 1-3 finish in the 100-metre hurdles”. The students placed in the race a great finish and Joseph even set a new track record.

(2011). Joseph happy to suit up for Team Canada was a warming title to read in the Toronto Sun paper. It states in the article that Joseph, the Pickering native, made his senior national team debut on Saturday in Canada’s 79-74 exhibition victory over Belgium at Ryerson University”. This brings great pride back to Pickering High School for teachers and students.

(2011). The article from the Toronto Sun labelled Error costs school team a medal was a shocking find to many readers. In the article it states that “The team was informed this week by a panel of the Lake Ontario Secondary School Association (LOSSA), that the team was disqualified from the provincial high school championships because the squad had been playing with an ineligible player”. This was hard news to accept for the school as they had won the gold medal but ended up being stripped from it in the end.

(2014). The Star paper put out an article for Pickering High legend Corey Joseph labelled Canadian Corey Joseph brings NBA trophy to hockey shrine. The most amazing part in the article was that “And a visit to his Pickering High School alma mater was made all the more special with a surprise announcement that the school was retiring his number”. This will resonate with the Pickering High School community and always represent his accomplishments.