Program creation and location
The CyberARTS program was created in 1995 by a group of educators, principally Sharron Forrest, Tito Faria, Jon Mergler, Mike Morey, Linda Newman, Terry Wensley, Doris Fleming, Katherine Yamashita and Lesley Monette who saw a need for enriched learning through the arts and had a unique vision for digital arts at the [high school and middle school levels. Their purpose was to develop a program for students wanting to specialize in particular subjects within the combined areas of the arts and technology. Art is the foundation of the digital program.
Support for the program initially came from the Don Mills Collegiate Institute, Don Mills Middle School, Northview Heights Secondary School and the North York Board of Education’s Computers in Education Program. The program had educational partnerships with businesses such as Alias/SGIWavefront, Apple Canada, Kodak Canada, Rogers Communications and Softimage and organizations like the Textile Museum of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario College of Art & Design, Sheridan College and the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.
Don Mills Collegiate Institute (DMCI) is a high school in the community of Don Mills in Toronto. It serves an ethnically diverse student population of approximately 1000. As of 2017, 67% of students speak a first language other than English. The school opened in 1959.
Don Mills Middle School (DMMS) is a middle school in Toronto, Ontario. It is located near the intersection Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue. The school was known as Don Mills Junior High until 1986.
Northview Heights Secondary School is a secondary school for grades 9 to 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Toronto's north end at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Finch Avenue.
CyberARTS is offered at the following middle and high schools: Charles H. Best Middle School, Don Mills Collegiate Institute, Don Mills Middle School, Northview Heights Secondary School, Western Technical-Commercial School, Lakeshore Collegiate Institute and Innisdale Secondary School.
Charles H. Best Middle School is a middle school in North York, Ontario for Grade 4 to 8 students. It is located near Dufferin Street and Finch Avenue, in the Bathurst Manor residential area. The school was named Dufferin Heights Junior High until 1978, when it was re-named in honour of Charles Best, one of the co-discoverers of insulin.
Western Technical-Commercial School(WTCS) is a high school in the High Park North neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It shares the same building with Ursula Franklin Academy and The Student School. Originally two schools when it was opened, Western Branch Technical School and Western High School of Commerce, the present school is now the product of the merger between the two schools. The main building was constructed in 1927, with the addition being constructed in 1967–1970. The school features such amenities such as a pool and two gyms, a greenhouse, a large library, a media lab, and a large number of computers throughout the building.
Lakeshore Collegiate Institute is a high school serving the New Toronto, Long Branch, Alderwood, and Mimico neighbourhoods. Built in 1950, it was originally known as New Toronto Secondary School until closing in 1983. Lakeshore Collegiate is situated on the northwest corner of Kipling Avenue and Birmingham Street in Ward 3 of the Toronto District School Board.
Structure
CyberARTS is an integrated program in which students gain credits in Visual Art, Media Literacy, Communications Technology, Computer Science, Music, Drama, Dance, Media Studies and Co-op. Curriculum in CyberARTS is designed so that the teacher is a facilitator, manager and producer while students take an active role in problem solving the task at hand whether it be creating or publishing children's books' authoring interactive CD-ROMS, organizing a conference or creating a traditional portrait. Each lesson unit in CyberARTS has an integration of at least two of the main CyberARTS subject areas and results in the completion of a major project. Staff and students at both levels work together to expand and improve the knowledge gained by students participating in the projects. The knowledge gained by students on these projects may assist them to make educational and vocational decisions. CyberARTS is also committed to both formal and informal experiences in Cooperative education and seeks in the development of curriculum to provide "real world" projects that extend beyond the classroom. Credits are granted for each course delivered to meet the Ministry outcomes.
Communication is the act of conveying meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of mutually understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules.
Computer science is the study of processes that interact with data and that can be represented as data in the form of programs. It enables the use of algorithms to manipulate, store, and communicate digital information. A computer scientist studies the theory of computation and the practice of designing software systems.
Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. General definitions of music include common elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική . See glossary of musical terminology.
CyberARTS students are expected to contribute to the program, school and/or greater community. These community hours will involve student application of their artistic, creative design and technological abilities in a variety of areas. Some examples include:
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Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by cultural and social attitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories such as bracelets and necklaces. Because of the time required to bring a garment onto the market, designers must at times anticipate changes to consumer tastes.
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Students are encouraged to take on leadership roles in these activities as part of the curriculum and skills training.
Teachers of the CyberARTs program specialize in visual art education and have had a background as a working professional involved in some aspect of the visual arts. Former experience includes being artists, filmmakers, curators, art administrators, designers and graphic artists.
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools are institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or part of a broad-based range of programs. France's École des Beaux-Arts is, perhaps, the first model for such organized institution, breaking with a tradition of master and apprentice system when it was formed.
Fleming College, also known as Sir Sandford Fleming College, is an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology located at Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. The college has an enrollment of more than 5,800 full-time and 10,000 part-time students.
Havergal College is an independent boarding and day school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was established in 1894 and named for Frances Ridley Havergal, a composer, author, and humanitarian.
Industrial arts is an educational program which features fabrication of objects in wood or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. It may include small engine repair and automobile maintenance, and all programs usually cover technical drawing as part of the curricula. As an educational term, industrial arts dates from 1904 when Charles R. Richards of Teachers College, Columbia University, New York suggested it to replace manual training.
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The Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) is a specialized public arts-academic high school located in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Royal York Collegiate Institute facility. Founded on September 8, 1981, the Etobicoke School of the Arts has the distinction of being the oldest, free standing, arts-focused high school in Canada.
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Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts ; formerly Wexford Collegiate Institute is a public high school located in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Run and organized by the Toronto District School Board, the school officially opened to students in September 1965 as Wexford CI by the Scarborough Board of Education and was renamed Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in 2006 in recognition of its specialized arts programs.
Arts Unionville, is a four-year co-educational arts intensive program at Unionville High School, located in Markham, Ontario. The program allows for specialization in dance, drama, music, and the visual arts. Unionville High School is one of four schools within the York Region District School Board that offers specialized arts programming of choice.
The Nancy Campbell Academy is a grade 7 through 12 Canadian accredited international private Bahá'í school in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Emphasizing its "twin pillars" of academic excellence and a clear moral framework, NCA satisfies the Ministry of Education (Ontario) standards, leading to the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). The Institute was named after Nancy Campbell (1905-1980), an accomplished pianist, artist, actress and dancer, who lived as a "world citizen" motivated by her belief in the Bahá'í Faith. Campbell worked to promote the ideal of the oneness of humanity, and was a dynamic speaker who travelled throughout the world giving lectures on peace and world unity. Breakwell Education Inc. established NCA in 1994 as Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute, or NCCI. Within seven years of its founding, NCA was among 16 schools rated Number One in a Fraser Institute survey of 816 Ontario high schools.
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