Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School (Oakville)


Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School is a separate school located in North Oakville in the River Oaks area within Oakville, Ontario. The 2019-2020 school year has around 1330 students enrolled in the school. Holy Trinity is a member of the Halton Catholic District School Board.

History

Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School is a Catholic high school located in North Oakville in the River Oaks area within Oakville, Ontario. The school’s construction was completed in the summer of 2002 and the school opened to new students and staff in September 2002. The school initially had only Grade 9, Grade 10 and Grade 11 students. This was Holy Trinity's first year open and the size was approximately 800 students, while the 2018-2019 student and staff member count has more than doubled in size. The 2019-2020 school year has around 1330 students enrolled in the school. Holy Trinity fosters a respectful and supportive Catholic environment that inspires all students to reach their full potential. Holy Trinity offers students a comprehensive academic curriculum, an outstanding co-curricular program, and an important Catholic learning experience that will prepare them for their post-secondary goals. HT’s legendary and daily saying is “treat everyone with equity, dignity, and respect”.
Holy Trinity offers many specialty programs such as the most recent Advanced Placement program for grade 9 students, Specialist High Skills Major Program, Dual Credit Course with Sheridan College and other various technology courses.
Interestingly, the school is a twin build of Christ the King Catholic Secondary School in Georgetown, Ontario. The blueprints of this school are a mirror image of Holy Trinity's and both schools were opened in September 2002.

Portable or relocatable classrooms

There are currently an additional eight portable classrooms situated on site for the 2011 - 2012 and 2012 - 2013 school years. In fall 2007, two separate fires ran through several portables, causing many to be replaced. Portable One was removed following the first fire and 6 years later has yet to be replaced, leaving no portable that is numbered with the number "1." These individual classrooms are placed outside of the original school building to accommodate the excess student enrollment over the building capacity of 1200 students as set by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Student enrollment in the 2007-2008 school year was a 36% enrollment increase above the permanent build facility level approved by the Ministry when the school was completed in 2002. History in Ontario has shown that many of these relocatable/portable classrooms will in fact be on site at the school for 15 to 20 or more years. As of 2017 the school has not used portable classrooms for at least 2 school years.
No provision is made by the Ministry for important and needed specialty classrooms for these additional students enrolled beyond the official building capacity. Academic areas needing additional academic specialized facilities for the additional four hundred students in excess of the official 1200 capacity, are in the areas of science labs, computer labs and technical education classrooms.

Extra-curricular activities

Holy Trinity does offer many extracurricular activities. However, they are mainly oriented around team and individual sports:
Boys ~ Football, Curling, Badminton, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, Soccer, Swimming, Rugby, Baseball, Cross Country, Track and Field, Wrestling
Girls ~ Basketball, Badminton, ice hockey, Volleyball, Soccer, Swimming, Field Hockey, Rugby, Tennis, Cross Country, Track and Field, Fastball.
The school offers a selection of open participation extracurricular activities. Musical options include a Senior and Junior Concert Bands, Jazz Band under the direction of Mr. Michael Stanlake. Extracurricular groups, clubs, and teams include an Environment Club, Quidditch Team, Debate Team, FIRST Robotics Competition Team, Chess Team, and Ski Team.
The school also has a very successful Student Council. Holy Trinity's Student Council consists of two representatives from each grade and 2 co-presidents. Council runs many school events such as dances, spirit days and assembly's. Grade's 10-12 can run for council at the end of the school year, while grade nine's run in September.
Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary school offers a multitude of varsity athletics.

Varsity athletics

Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School offers a multitude of varsity athletics
Varsity Sports Program
FALL SPORTS
Jr. Football
Sr. Football
Jr. Girls Basketball
Sr. Girls Basketball
Jr. Boys Volleyball
Sr. Boys Volleyball
Jr. Girls Field Hockey
Sr. Girls Field Hockey
Cross Country
WINTER SPORTS
Mid. Boys Basketball
Jr. Boys Basketball
Sr. Boys Basketball
Mid. Girls Volleyball
Jr. Girls Volleyball
Sr. Girls Volleyball
Boys Varsity Hockey
Girls Varsity Hockey
Swim Team
Ski & Snowboard Team
Curling
EARLY SPRING
Jr. Boys Ice Hockey
Jr. Badminton
Sr. Badminton
SPRING SPORTS
Jr. Girls Soccer
Sr. Girls Soccer
Jr. Boys Soccer
Sr. Boys Soccer
Jr. Girls Rugby
Sr. Girls Rugby
Jr. Boys Rugby
Sr. Boys Rugby
Track & Field
Boys Baseball
Girls Softball
Tennis
Field Lacrosse

Soccer

The Senior boys soccer team captured the Halton Region championships in 2006 and competed at the OFSSAA Provincial championship. In 2005 the Junior varsity captured the Halton Region title.
The 2016 Girls Junior Varsity team went undefeated to capture the Halton Region Title.

Lacrosse

Holy trinity’s lacrosse team has won four straight Halton championships, and competed in OFSAA in 2014-2017.

Basketball

The Senior Boy’s Basketball team has had a very successful 2018-2019 year, only losing one game the whole season. They have made it to the finals every year coming in second from 2016-2019. They have won small tournaments hosted by high schools, including Holy Trinity. As well as, they have won the Cathedral Basketball Tournament in Hamilton. The team is very appreciative of their coaches at Holy Trinity who have encouraged them throughout the years, Mr. Saulez, Mr. Stonkus, Mr. Ragonetti.
The Senior Girl’s Basketball coached by Ms. Mowat and Mr. Fletcher has strived through the years. In 2016 the Senior Girls Basketball team won the Bishop Reding Tournament. In the years 2016-2017 they were undefeated until the semi-finals. In the 2018-2019 season they were the consolation champions at the Mohawk tournament. The team was undefeated until the playoffs once again. They made it to the quarter finals this 2018-2019 season.
The Senior Boys won their first ever Halton AAAA Basketball Championship in the 2006 - 2007 season by beating the Assumption Crusaders. The undefeated Senior Boys also won the Halton title in 2012 as well as the GHAC title. They then concluded their most successful season in school history by ending up 4th at OFSAA.
The Junior Girls won their first ever Halton AAAA Basketball Championship in the 2006 - 2007 season. It was the crowning achievement in an undefeated season.

Trinity Live Arts

Holy Trinity has been under the guidance of Mrs. Lanna Borsellino, who retired in 2018. Theatre Trinity has always been a large part of the school and has sparked the creation of a new student club, the Student Teacher Arts Representatives council. The STAR council has hosted an annual “Fringe Festival” which consist of student directed one act plays, this normally happens around Christmas time in the first semester. Second semester, the school normally takes on a larger production in a big play or musical lead by the head of the schools drama department. In the Spring of 2017, the school put on a production of Tim Rice’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” and starred seniors Olivia Ouzounis, Jacob Moro, and Luca D’Amico. In the spring of 2018, the school put on a production of Frank Loesser “Guys and Dolls” and starred seniors Jackson Bulthuis, Jordan Lie, Brianna Mele, and Daniel Cabraja. Below is an image of “The Gamblers” as well as an image of the iconic “Havana” scene.
For Mrs. Borsellino’s final Theatre Trinity Production in the winter of 2018, the school put on an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” which starred seniors Daniel Cabraja, Martin Bevcic, Joelle Mason, and Andrey Renkema. The school is looking into putting on a production of Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables” as their school musical for the spring of 2020, lead by the new head of arts department Ms. Christine Deif.
Trinity Live Arts produces one annual school production, directed and choreographed by the teachers from all sections of the Arts Department. Past shows include: Fame, Dracula, Kids Say The Darndest Things, Footloose, The Donnellys, The Wiz & Metamorphoses.
2008 marked the first year the school participated in the Sears Drama Festival. In 2009, Holy Trinity hosted the festival as "Red Carpet Nights". Past Sears Drama shows include: No Exit, Inspector Rex & the original Bollywood musical, Bombay the Hard Way.
The After-School Drama Club was introduced in 2009, allowing students to be both directors and actors in their own productions.
Once a year the school holds a challenge for all students who seek to get into filmmaking. The Five Hour film challenge takes place once a year. A team of five students must create a short film in under five hours with a specific line depending on whatever our STAR council chooses it to be. Students must pay fifteen dollars that covers, a bus to and from downtown oakville, and a pizza lunch. The winning team will all be awarded medals and their names inscribed on a plaque in the school. Down below is unused concept art for a poster for the 2017 five hour film challenge:
Every year, Holy Trinity’s own S.T.A.R council holds a Christmas Assembly in the Gym that brings the whole school together to celebrate the holiday. The assembly is particularly well liked, and the students look forward to it, as it means the Christmas break is fast approaching. In past years, the assemblies had been fun and interactive, getting students involved and bringing out the Christmas spirit before the break begins. The assembly usually involves games, fun video clips put together by the S.T.A.R members, and sometimes dance routines and/or skits. Hopefully the coming years can be just as exciting and interactive as previous Christmas assemblies, continuing to get the student body into the Christmas spirit and sent off into the break on a good note.

Robotics

2007

Two of the students at Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School became involved in FIRST Robotics Competition teams at schools in the area, Team 1334 and Team 843. The students got interested teachers and students involved in other teams in the area until it was possible to start a team at HT. To aid in the process, Team 1334 graciously opened their doors for anyone interested to join their team. This collaboration continued in 2008 and 2009 with several Holy Trinity students and teachers actively participating on team 1334.

2010

Holy Trinity has a FIRST Robotics Competition team, Team 3161, their Twitter is @team3161 - Tronic Titans, whose first years as a rookie team was the 2010 season.
In their rookie year, team 3161 seeded well at the Waterloo Regional, and qualified for the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Georgia as rookie all-stars.

2011

The Tronic Titans greatly increased their activity within the school and the community. 3161 visited numerous local catholic elementary schools and from those efforts, started and mentored two new FLL teams. Team 3161 competed in the Waterloo and Greater Toronto West Regionals but due to unfortunate mechanical issues, team 3161 was limited to quarter finalists at both events. The team received the Team Spirit award at both events, and at Waterloo. Their own Paul Fossenier received the Dean’s List Finalist Award.

2012

The team had its first annual FIRST social for neighbouring FRC and FLL teams. The team hosted its second successful Halton Regional FLL tournament and recruited students from surrounding high schools to the team. The team appeared in TV Ontario’s show ‘Giver’, and hosted the Professional Engineers Ontario, Oakville Chapter’s, National Engineering Month Celebration. The team attended the Waterloo Regional, where they battled hard for the #1 seed but ended up seeded 3rd overall and became the 3rd alliance captain. They entered the elimination round but unfortunately did not pass the quarter finals. 3161 came home with a Woodie Flowers Finalist Award for their lead mentor Roger Balech. After Waterloo, 3161 was able to seed 1st overall, out of 55 teams, and captained the #1 alliance.

2013

The Tronic Titans became ever more community based, being composed of 38 students from seven different high schools and elementary schools in the area. They also managed to create stronger partnerships with their sponsors Anubis Manufacturing Corporation and Professional Engineers Ontario – Oakville Chapter. The robot Perses’ design included a ten-point hanger, a three-point shooter, and a five-disk autonomous. At the Waterloo regional, they were chosen as the first pick for the 5th alliance. At their second regional, GTR West, they were the 8th alliance captain, but at both regionals they didn’t make it past the quarter finals.

2014

They reached the World Championship in St. Louis by winning the Engineering Inspiration at Greater East Toronto Regional. They also won the Innovation in Control Award at the Waterloo Regional for the claw and punch design they have on their robot Thanatos. They earned high rankings in both regionals as well. They were the 5th alliance’s pick at Greater Toronto East, and they were the 8th alliance captains in Waterloo. They continued many established traditional events that the team holds, such as the Halton FLL Qualifying Tournament happened in their school remains the largest in Ontario. They come in partnership with PEO to hold their annual National Engineering Month.

2015

At Waterloo they were the final pick of the 3rd alliance. As a result, they were carried to the semi-finals. They remained the largest tournament held in Ontario. In March, they hosted the National Engineering Month with PEO. They successfully attracted more than two hundred people in attendance. They travelled to University of Toronto to take part in the Science Rendezvous fair. They held their largest fundraiser Ford Drive in partnership with Oakland Ford Dealership.

2019

There is a March 22-23 Competition at Waterloo and an
April 5th Competition at McMaster.

Mentors

Elementary school graduates who are in the boundaries of Holy Trinity and will attend Holy Trinity High School starting in the next school year include Our Lady of Peace, St.Marguerite D’Youville, St. Andrews, St.John of Oakville, and St. Michael’s, and Holy Family.
Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School hosts athletic tournaments throughout the school year for their feeder schools including volleyball, basketball, track and field all day tournaments. Holy Trinity not only holds events for just the feeder schools, they also host tournaments of a variety of sports for their fellow Halton Region high schools. In addition, the arts program at Holy Trinity welcomes their feeder schools to their shows to inform coming students of the opportunities that the arts program holds.
Titan Shield stands for serving, helping, including, empowering, leading discerning and is a new leadership program at Holy Trinity of the 2018 year that was made to help the grade 8 students coming in the new school year to transition and make the move to high school more comfortable and an inclusive experience. Students are able to develop leadership qualities and give students the opportunity to support their school’s improvement plan.