Cawthra Park Secondary School, also known as CPSS, is a public high school built in 1972 located in Southeast Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is one of two regional arts schools in the Peel District School Board. Cawthra Park provides instruction to students from grades 9 to 12.

Cawthra Park offers a Regional Arts Program, which Peel students may audition to attend, and a mainstream option for locals students. CPSS is one of the few secondary schools in Mississauga with an active and operational public pool facility owned and operated by the City of Mississauga. Starting in 2023, a new pool aquatic program and facility will open at the Carmen Corbasson Community Centre (on the same land of the school) and Cawthra Park Pool will be decommissioned.

The principal is Marcia McCurdy-Fagan, and the vice principals are Barbara Gordon and Sian Evans as of October 2023.

Arts

Cawthra Park is home to Peel's Regional Arts Program (RAP), for which students audition to study music, dance, dramatic arts or visual arts. Approximately two-thirds of Cawthra's students are in the RAP program, with the remaining students coming from the local area.

Cawthra offers a Specialist High-Skills Major (SHSM) in Arts & Culture, allowing students to complete additional certifications and training.

Academics

In 2017–2018, the school exceeded provincial averages for both the EQAO and OSSLT test scores.^[1]

Music

The music department has performed over the years at various venues, including mass at the Vatican City, onstage at Disney's Magic Kingdom, Austria, and for the former American ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins.

The music department runs many choral and instrumental ensembles, including Jazz Lab, Guitar Ensemble, Momentum, and the Junior and Senior Concert Bands. The Ritz, a concert choir with over 360 members, is the largest in North America.

In May and June 2013, the Cawthra Park Chamber Choir performed with The Rolling Stones in the Air Canada Centre.^[2]

Every ensemble has achieved gold status at MusicFest, and has received awards at national competitions.

Dramatic arts

Cawthra's drama facilities include three studios and an auditorium that seats 667. Approximately sixty drama students are accepted per year. The program introduces its students to theatre production, musical theatre, and set and costume design.

The drama department produces the school's spring play and monitors the school's annual participation in the National Theatre School Drama Festival. The department also shares directorial responsibilities with its music and dance counterparts for the fall musical.

Visual arts

The visual arts department offers courses to students both in the art program as well as to students pursuing other disciplines. Courses include traditional, modern and post-modern art, desktop design, media arts and photography. The department also has ties to other departments at Cawthra Park such as fashion and communication technology.

During the annual Visual Arts SpringFest, the school is transformed into an art gallery. Senior visual arts students partake in an art-focused week-long class trip to New York City.

Dance

The dance curriculum includes ballet, modern dance, musical theater and jazz. Students are also required to study a theoretical curriculum that includes the history of dance, kinesiology, composition, criticism and social issues relating to the dance community such as eating disorders and arthritis. The department offers elective dance courses for students not enrolled in the dance program, and dance opportunities for all students. Major events for the dance department include Dance Springfest in early April and Dance Mosaix in late May.

Productions

The school also puts on a fall musical and a spring play annually.

° = These musicals were performed by the Clarkson Musical Theatre at the school in spring (and not students) before the tradition of the spring play came into place.

∆ = The school choose to delegate the fall spot to the Clarkson Music Theatre for their musical so they could instead prepare the school's first attempt at a spring play.

The above list was compiled by Daniel Lis ('14) by collecting information from yearbooks available in the school's library.

Athletics

Sports teams at Cawthra Park include both boys and girls basketball, golf, swimming, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, ultimate frisbee, soccer, tennis, hockey, cross country, track & field teams, and a boys' baseball team. Unlike many high schools, Cawthra is known for not having a tackle football team.^[10]

The 2012 Cawthra Panthers Ultimate Frisbee team in their second season reached the ROPSSAA finals, placing second to John Cabot SS^[11]

Notable alumni

• Erica Peck, lead role in the musical We Will Rock You in Toronto and a Broadway performer^[12][13]
• Daria Werbowy, supermodel
• André Dae Kim, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Vampire Academy (TV series)
• Wali Shah, singer-songwriter, educational speaker, United Way ambassador and honouree of Canada's Top 20 Under 20^[14]
• Sebastien Grainger, singer-songwriter, Death from Above 1979
• Blake McGrath, singer, dancer, star of DancelifeDancelife, finalist on So You Think You Can Dance (season 1)
• Deanna Casaluce, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Adamo Ruggiero, actor, Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Amanda Stepto, actor, Degrassi (1987–1991, 2001–2009)
• David Bryant, guitarist for Godspeed You! Black Emperor
• The FemBots, musicians
• Drew McCreadie, winner of Best Male Improvisor in Canada at the Canadian Comedy Awards.
• J.D Fortune, former replacement INXS lead singer
• Lorne Ryder, singer-songwriter – CCMA and Canadian Smooth Jazz Award Nominee
• Dan Griffin, vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist for the Arkells
• Dave Seglins, CBC News
• Marnie Woodrow, author
• Sabrina Grdevich, actor
• Pooja Handa, CP24 anchor
• Boman Martinez-Reid, comedian

See also

• List of high schools in Ontario

References

External links

• www.cawthrapark.com