Four Pillars of Excellence

Oak Bay High School has developed a culture of excellence, innovation and student leadership over the decades.  Our philosophy, programming and professional development are based on four educational pillars of excellence:  Academics, Athletics, Fine Arts and Community Leadership and Philanthropy.

Academics

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As students enter our school in grade nine, they can select from a variety of curricular and extracurricular opportunities, with literacy, numeracy, English as a Second Language, and Special Education supports built-in to the program so every student has every opportunity for success.  Curricular choice expands as students move to higher-grade levels.  As part of our academic program, we offer several Advanced Placement courses, including Studio Art, English Literature, and Calculus.  Honours classes are offered in English 9 – 11 and in Science 9 – 10.  Our graduate students have earned over a million dollars of scholarships each year for several years.  Oak Bay is also engaged in the District UStart program and the University of Victoria with senior students enrolled at UVic taking first year course work while completing their graduation requirements at Oak Bay High.

Athletics

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At Oak Bay High, nearly half of the students participate in athletics in approximately 70 teams across a variety of sports, genders and levels.  A few years ago, the Vancouver Sun reported that Oak Bay High School had the strongest athletic program of any school in the province.  This year, for example, every one of our fall sport teams won the Island Championships and the right to play at the Provincial Championships, and our Senior Boys Volleyball team just won the Provincials for the second year in a row.  In these sports, our youth not only develop fitness and sports skills, but also learn important, human qualities such as determination, perseverance, humility and leadership, along with positive attitudes towards collaboration and teamwork that can serve them for the rest of their lives.

Fine Arts

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Along with a strong Visual Arts program that has an Advance Placement course and students who routinely show their work in local galleries and win local awards, hundreds of students are enrolled in our Performing Arts program.   We are one of the only schools in BC that has a qualified, full time dance teacher and we boast dance classes at all grades and at three levels of expertise. Our Choir and Band programs have a variety of different courses at different levels and styles, including an award winning Men’s Choir.  Each year, our Drama department and the other Performing Arts staff and students mount a very successful musical production with full student engagement in stagecraft, tech support, actors, dancers, singers, costuming and a pit orchestra.

Community Leadership & Philanthropy

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Oak Bay High School staff and students are highly community-minded.  We have a close working relationship with our Police Liaison Officer and Crime Stoppers, Rotary Interact, Counterattack-Road Sense, Healthy Schools, and the Victoria Foundation (which supports the Oak Bay Youth Outreach Program) are just a few examples of the many clubs in which our students are involved.  Our Career Centre Coordinator, teachers, and counsellors work closely to provide parent and student workshops on post-secondary information, scholarships, and alternate post-secondary options.  Our students are keenly involved in ‘making a difference in the world’.  From raising over $56,000 for cancer research to taking a key role in the successful lobbying to ban tanning beds for youth under 18, Oak Bay students demonstrate they care about each other, the community they live in, and the world that they will inherit.