Bell High School (Ottawa)

In 1962, the school was established by the Carleton Board of Education (now Ottawa-Carleton District School Board) as a public high school for grades 9-12. In 1977, Bell High School concert and stage bands produced an album "From Canada's Capital... Bell Bands in Concert". As D. Aubrey Moodie Intermediate School (grades 6–8) closed down as of June 2017, Bell High School became a 7-12 school.

It currently offers a Gifted Program,[1] a comprehensive French Immersion and an ESL program in addition to the normal academic program.[2] In 2014, Bell High School was recognized as the primary secondary school to service Ottawa West. Its students refer to themselves as Bruins.

The school consists of roughly 50% students from local districts as well as another 50% from other districts who transfer in order to attend its Gifted Program, French Immersion Program or ESL program.

Academically, Bell has one of the highest university placement rates in Ottawa. Virtually all students of its gifted program and a plurality in the academic program enter university programs in Canada or internationally. Students often go to the local Carleton University and University of Ottawa, with others going to Queen's University, McGill University, McMaster University University of Waterloo or University of British Columbia in Canada. Some graduates go to the United States; in the past, students have gone to Cornell University, Yale University and Harvard University.

Bell High School also offers comprehensive French Immersion studies for students wishing to pursue accreditation and fluency in French as well as a full range of Advance Placement courses and examinations for those whom wish to attain university credits during high school. AP Courses offered include:[3] Physics B, Calculus, English Literature, French, Macroeconomics and Studio Arts.

Beyond its special academic curriculum, Bell High School offers a diverse and extensive range of academic studies. Reinforced by its excellent educational infrastructure and exceptional staff to student ratio of 13.3 (~1000 students to ~80 staff), Bell High School students almost always perform exceptionally in national mathematics, biology and business competitions. In the University of Waterloo Math Competitions, Bell has consistently ranked within the top 50 schools in the nation.[4]

Bell's reputation for academics is such that Bell students are welcomed at various institutions for enrichment studies. Some examples include the Canadian Light Source synchrotron (a particle accelerator) in Saskatchewan,[5] Huntsman Marine Science Center,[6] the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo,[7] McGill University and the University of Toronto for its Model United Nations conferences.[8] Many of Bell's students have been selected to attend the prestigious Shad Valley summer enrichment program for excellence in science, math, business and engineering.[9]

Bell also has an international travel program which sends students across the world in order to broaden their horizon. Destinations have included Continental Europe, Asia, Japan and the Galapagos Islands.

Bell High School is located on a spacious 10 hectare (25 acre) campus. The school building itself is in the shape of the letter "E" and divided into several wings. Each wing contains a different educational discipline, one each for science, mathematics, English, and social studies. The school also has an art studio and a cafeteria. Bell High School also actively integrates technology into the classroom, including projectors, four modern computer labs, and SmartBoards. In 2018, additional construction began in order to enlarge the school and better accommodate the newly integrated Intermediate (Grades 7 and 8) students from the former D. A. Moodie Intermediate School.

The school also has a two-story library with computer access, a student services office, two music rooms, an art studio with kiln, a drama studio, an extensive costume storage room, a dance studio, a drafting studio, two full-sized gyms with bleachers, a greenhouse, an automotive garage, two construction workshops and indoor weight training and exercise facilities.

Because of the size of its campus, Bell High School offers a full range of sports amenities and well as a large degree of recreational green space. The school has or is adjacent to two baseball diamonds, two full-sized soccer fields (one doubles as a football field, with bleachers), an all season indoor hockey arena (Bell Centennial Arena) and a 400 m gravel track. Many of these facilities are owned by the City of Ottawa.

Due to a large number of students attending Bell High School from other neighborhoods, four "600" series buses (658 serving Bayshore and Crystal Beach, 660 and 665 serving Kanata, 675 serving Barrhaven, and 669 serving Bayshore), as well as a special 88 route (to Bell H.S. only) have been arranged with OC Transpo in order to transport students.[10]

Bell High School has an extremely active student population which hosts a huge variety of activities ranging from a leadership camp that involves 30% of the school population for three days to games and other fun events. An elected Students' Council holds the leadership camp, run by leadership heads who are elected at the end of each school year by the upcoming co-presidents, as well as World Vision's 30 Hour Famine, and other events for charity and awareness.

Beyond activities, Bell also engages extensively in fundraising efforts. Through these efforts, Bell has contributed significantly to the local community and even managed to construct a sister school in Kenya[11] which it maintains as an ongoing humanitarian project. Other than its fundraisers and humanitarian projects, Bell High School also hosts a plethora of events to actively promote arts and culture, though performances, banquets, and shows.

The students of Bell also run a diverse list of clubs from philanthropic organizations to academic groups. Among the list are Anime Club, A/V (Audio/Visual) Crew, BISA (Bell Islamic Students' Association), Chess Club, Community Science Club, Debate Club, the Bell Roar Newspaper, Rainbow Alliance (Supporting the LGBTQ Community), Interact Club (Part of Rotary International), Key Club, OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving), Reach for the Top (placing first nationally in 1993–94), the University Math Club, Model United Nations Club, Pokémon Club, Potluck club, ESL club, AIM Youth, Robotics Club and a host of others.[12]

Bell is also known for its excellent drama program, consistently earning recognition at the annual Sears Ontario Drama Festival. The 2008 production, "Whitechapel," was published in "Festival Voices," an anthology of plays written by students and teachers for the Festival. Bell also produces an annual musical which has been regarded by local media as having outstanding production values.[13] It is also consistently recognized by "The Cappies" for its excellence in the field.

Bell High School Robotics is a student-run club started in 2016. The team participates in competitions around the nation and has an ultimate goal of making Vex Worlds, one of the world's greatest robotics competitions for high school students held in Louisville, Kentucky. The team hopes to expand the club and allow more students to experience STEM related fields.

The aims of the team are to foster interest in robotics through competition, to cultivate a relationship with the surrounding Ottawa community, and much closer to home, to create a core community at Bell High School via the "Team First, Robotics Second" philosophy, which prioritizes team bonding and growth along with engineering accomplishment.[14]

Bell High School has a large roster of sports teams which in many sports under the Bell Bruins name (the mascot of the school, a bear). Among its teams, Bell particularly excels at basketball, soccer, and rugby.[15] badminton, wrestling and track and field, frequently qualifying for nationals and Pan-American level competitions.

The teams offered by Bell High School (all teams have male and female divisions) include: tennis, soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, field hockey, rugby, cross country running, Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing, hockey, track and field, curling, baseball, wrestling and swimming. In 2010, badminton players from Bell earned two OFSAA provincial gold titles and a silver title in an unprecedented performance by one school.[16]

• Steve Yzerman, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and GM of the Detroit Red Wings.
• John Manley, Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician.
• John Baird, Canadian politician, former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
• Bruce Cockburn, Canadian musician.
• Doug Smith, NHL, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Eliza Reid, writer and First Lady of Iceland
• Teddy Wilson, TV personality
• Gordon Fraser, professional cyclist
• Tina Takahashi, judoka
• Phil Takahashi, judoka and Olympic athlete
• Ray Takahashi, judoka, wrestler and Olympic athlete

• List of high schools in Ontario

• Current School Website
• Old School Website
• Second Old School Website
• OCDSB Website
• 2009-2010 OCDSB School Profile
• Bell High School Robotics