| Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School École secondaire Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau | |
| Address: | 90 Bur Oak Avenue |
| City: | Markham |
| Province: | Ontario |
| Postcode: | L6C 2E6 |
| Country: | Canada |
| Coordinates: | 43.8892°N -79.3128°W |
| Schooltype: | Public |
| Motto: | Strive Higher, Soar Further |
| Religious Affiliation: | Secular |
| Founded: | 2002 |
| Schoolboard: | York Region District School Board |
| Superintendent: | Kandeephan Ganeshalingam |
| Trustee: | Ron Lynn |
| Principal: | Dawn Imanda-Chan |
| Grades Label: | Grades |
| Grades: | 9–12 |
| Enrolment: | 1730[1] |
| Enrolment As Of: | 2021–2022 |
| Colours: | Yellow, White, Red, and Black |
| Mascot: | The Trailblazer |
| Team Name: | Trudeau Trailblazers |
| Lastupdate: | April 2024 |
Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School (French: '''École secondaire Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau''', commonly known as PETHS, PET, or Trudeau) is a public, bilingual English and French-immersion secondary school in Markham, Ontario. It was named in honour of the 15th prime minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
Construction of Pierre Elliott Trudeau HS commenced in June 2001 and opened on September 3, 2002 with 500 students in grade 7, 8, 9 and 10. The grade 7 and 8 students were from Castlemore Public School, a designated feeder school, and were segregated from the high school students. The Class of 2005 was the first graduating class of Pierre Elliott Trudeau HS.
Located in northern Markham between Major Mackenzie Dr. and 16th Avenue on Kennedy and Bur Oak Avenue, Trudeau is a part of the York Region District School Board, Trudeau primarily serves students who reside in northern Unionville, which include the communities of Cachet, Angus Glen, and Berczy Village. Trudeau also serves students in the French-immersion program who reside in the communities of Stouffville, and most of the City of Markham. During the school year of 2017–2018, the opening of Bill Hogarth Secondary School resulted in mandatory transfers from approximately half of the French immersion students at Trudeau.
PETHS's feeder schools include:
PETHS was intended to be an academic school from the onset. Initially upon opening, Trudeau hired many teachers from Bayview Secondary School with the intent of implementing the International Baccalaureate program, which as of 2021 had not yet been achieved. The school is slowly phasing out the AP program, though exams can still be written. AP courses are no longer offered. In addition, Trudeau now offers a Specialist High Skills Major in business, health & wellness, arts & culture and information computer technology.[2]
As of 2019 the Fraser Institute Report Card on Secondary Schools gave PET an overall rating of 8.8, ranking it 12/739 schools in Ontario.[3]
PETHS has historically participated in and excelled at the McMaster University Engineering Olympics,[4] winning in multiple events. Since 2005, they have participated in the York Region Science Olympics[5] and have ranked in the top 7. Since 2004, its students began entering the University of Toronto Biology Contest[6] and have placed in the top third of all international schools to participate. The school also regularly participates in the Sir Isaac Newton Physics Contest,[7] and all applicable University of Waterloo Canadian Mathematics Competition. Trudeau's music department has advanced to the Gold Level at the OBA competitions. PETHS's Computer Science Club has won the YRDSB ECOO Programming Competition for 2016 and 2017.[8]
Trudeau Student Activity Council (often simplified to 'TSAC') is an extracurricular club whose main role concerns managing all the other clubs at the school. It is composed of students from all grades. In 2016, a new position, "Equity Chair" was added to enhance the diversity at PETHS. Events held by the Student Council include Trudeaumania, a welcoming event for grade nine students; Blazer's Bash which is a school wide event taking place near the end of May; as well as many school spirit days usually focused on Spirit week in the late winter before March Break.