Prospective Colts

For current YRDSB Students

• YRDSB registration fillable PDF  (you received a copy of this with your welcome package, but if you prefer to complete on line,  please complete this form - print off and drop off at BCSS by February 6, 2025.

For current non-YRDSB students

• YRDSB registration fillable PDF  (you would have received a copy of this with your welcome package, but if you prefer to complete on line,  please complete this form - print off - and submit with the other required documents - Please complete and drop off all information at BCSS by February 6, 2025.
  • Copy of Proof of Residency
  • Copy of student's birth certificate/ passport or citizenship card
  • For students currently in Grade 9, 10, 11, or 12 - Copy of your up to date  Credit Counselling Summary

Helpful Links

• Visit the Bill Crothers S.S. Course Offerings.
• Watch department videos to inform your choices.
• Learn more about Pathway Programs, including Cooperative Education, Specialist High Skills Majors, etc. 

Grade 9 Subjects

Student Supports

• Guidance
• Library
• Student Success

Opportunities:

• supportive and flexible teachers
• peer tutoring (available in most subjects)
• Integrated Learning Instructional Period
• Math and Science competitions
• Nutrition Program
• High-Performance Athlete Program (additional application process)
• 1:1 program

Facilities:

• three double gyms
• weight room
• plyometrics room
• two turf fields
• grass field
• mondo track
• spin room
• Science/Food labs

Learn more about our health and physical education facilities. 

Early August start.

Late start Wednesdays and Integrated Learning Instructional Period to support student learning.

60-minute periods.

BCSS Holidays. 

See our timetable, school year calendar and school calendar for more information and dates. 

• For rural areas that are not York Region Transit accessible (such as Georgina, Keswick, Sutton, Pefferlaw, Schomberg, Nobleton and Mt Albert), you may qualify for board busing if you are in one of these areas. Please visit http://net.schoolbuscity.com/ or contact the York Region Student Transportation Services School Bus Information Line at 1-877-330-3001, accessible 24 hours a day to review.

• Areas serviced by York Region Transit (YRT) do not qualify for a board bus. Students take the YRT, Viva, GO busses, car pool or purchase private bussing through the parent facilitators.   

• Student parking passes are also available for students who drive. 

Learn more about transportation options and parking passes.

Review our Uniform package to familiarize yourself with what is included, and the sizing chart also on the uniform page. 

Learn how to create a School Cash Online account.

To order your uniform

1. Click on the following uniform link: (Opens up February 6, 2025)

2. Under “Who is this item for?” ensure that the box “myself” is unchecked. You will need to do this in order to complete step 3.

3. Enter the student name as it appears on the application you submitted to Bill Crothers Secondary School. 

4. Add to Cart and press Continue.

5. If you are not already logged in, it will prompt you to sign in or you will need to create an account. You can choose to continue as a guest if you so wish.

6. Fill out payment information and click continue. 

My four years at Bill Crothers Secondary School have been an amazing opportunity. The insight and experiences I have acquired throughout my journey at Bill Crothers Secondary School have propelled me to where I am today. The life-long relationships that I forged have broadened my perspective of the world and augmented my growth as a person. As I leave Bill Crothers Secondary School and step into the outside world, I feel prepared to conquer any obstacle along the way. 

Notably, I leave Bill Crothers Secondary School as a more self-aware individual after having the chance to explore and express both my academic curiosities and athletic endeavors in a supportive environment. As you read this letter, you are getting one step closer to facing the same wonderful opportunity I had in front of me four years ago to redefine myself, as a Colt. An opportunity, I hope you try to take full advantage of. Now, I know what you are thinking. The doubts going through your mind and the voices in your head telling you that the only opportunity you have here is the chance to be surrounded by a bunch of pretentious jocks, get hit in the head with a football on your way to class, and stumble upon stinky sports equipment at just about every corner of the school. Although, have you ever taken the time to ask yourself more questions or find out if there is truly more to this 220,000 square feet state-of-the-art building? As there is a lot more to Bill Crothers Secondary School than meets the eye. 

However, I have come to realize that it is not your eyes or the voices in your head that give you these erroneous perceptions of Bill Crothers Secondary School. But it is, in fact, the words of uninformed individuals throughout our respective communities that paint a distorted image of Bill Crothers Secondary School. With some misconceptions that Bill Crothers does not value academics. Bill Crothers has forever lived by the motto, “To develop in students the love of sport through learning, and the love of learning through sport”. Academics are at the forefront of Bill Crothers, even in their application process. Upon further inquiry/investigation, I can confidently conclude that a greater emphasis is placed on academic performance as opposed to athletic performance when determining admission during the application process. Unsurprisingly, Bill Crothers has consistently placed in the top percentile, in comparison to other schools, on standardized tests such as OSSLT, EQAO, and the Grade 10 Literacy Test. Furthermore, Bill Crothers Secondary School recognizes and appreciates the fact that you are not just an athlete or student, but you are, in fact, a student-athlete. As a result, it does an exquisite job balancing and accommodating to your athletic and academic career. This will become very apparent upon your first day at Bill Crothers as it has systems in place such as the High Performance Athlete Program, ILIP, and flexible and compassionate teachers who will help you catch up on work missed for excused athletic events.

ILIP is a crucial part to the success of Bill Crothers’ students as it gives students sixty minutes each day, except for Wednesday, to study, go find their course teachers for extra assistance, and work with peers. The only reason ILIP is not offered on Wednesday is due to the fact that school starts at 10:00 am (instead of 8:45 am) on Wednesday, therefore our “ILIP” is actually in the morning. In addition, Bill Crothers has continued to look to redefine and celebrate learning. Just this year, Bill Crothers created new courses such as Sports Management, Sports Marketing, Computer Sciences, and sport-specific gym classes. Moreover, Bill Crothers understands the trials and tribulations a student-athlete must endure to maintain academic success while still competing in their sport. Hence, unlike many other highschools, Bill Crothers celebrates students’ academic success by having an Honour Roll presentation each year for grades ten, eleven, and twelve to congratulate students who achieved a minimum of an eighty average in their previous grade. Students receive certificates and a reception along with their family and friends. Overall, this serves as a great motivation for students throughout the school year to perform to their best academically. 

Most importantly, when it comes to creating a school atmosphere that is conducive to inclusivity, unity, and personal growth, no school can compare to Bill Crothers. As Bill Crothers offers events such as Green Acres Day and Right to Play Day for incoming grade nines which allows students from throughout the school to bond. Also, Bill Crothers is host to the renowned “Sea of Red” Homecoming which is incomparable to anything in the province! Words cannot even begin to describe the energy and exhilaration you feel on Homecoming Day. To this day, I still get goosebumps on my skin and chills down my spine thinking about my first homecoming. The best way to even scratch the surface of what it feels/looks like would be to Google it. In previous years, our homecoming athletic events have been host to basketball players such as Andrew Wiggins and Thon Maker who are both now NBA stars. Talk about a star-studded headline! 

Despite the continued success, Bill Crothers is constantly finding innovative ways to enhance the experience of their valuable student-athletes. Whether it be creating more comfortable and fashionable uniform apparel or organizing junior/senior dodgeball tournaments, Bill Crothers does it all. Recently, Bill Crothers’ inventive staff and students have been working towards implementing a new House System throughout the school to further improve school culture. Lastly, what makes Bill Crothers so special and unique is the fact that its superlative culture is predicated upon its diversity. The admissions committee at Bill Crothers does a diligent and marvelous job of building a diverse incoming class of four hundred students from throughout the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) that contribute to the beautiful mosaic of the Bill Crothers community. Nowhere in the GTA will you see a Kleinburg, Markham, and Keswick kid sitting at the same lunch table laughing together. Bill Crothers acted as a lens to which I could see an outside world that I would have never seen within the realm of my local highschool. Each and every day I had the privilege of being surrounded by extraordinary peers coming from many diverse aspects of life. Our relationships only continued to push one another to new heights and challenged us to strive for more. 

Regardless of your varying distances and geographical areas, what will make you want to walk, carpool, or bus to Bill Crothers Secondary School each and every morning is finding a collection of spectacular individuals that all share an insatiable passion for athletics and academics. Throughout my four years at Bill Crothers, I have had the privilege to share classrooms and learn alongside individuals who are U of T National Scholars and Queen’s Chancellor Scholarship laureates and individuals that will be going into prestigious programs/institutions such as Queen’s Commerce, McGill University, Waterloo Engineering, and Schulich. Also, I have been fortunate enough to share weight rooms with a plethora of Division 1 NCAA athletes, World Cup players, OHL prospects, REX players, and TFC Academy players. In conclusion, as a young thirteen-year-old coming into Bill Crothers, the thought of getting to wear that Colt across my chest and experiencing the glamorizing four floors, three gyms, and other facilities everyday excited me the most. Yet, in the final analysis, it was the sensational individuals behind the Colt logo and that comprised the sublime facilities that made my experience worthwhile. Despite the saddening thought of leaving, the thought of going to a place where I will have the chance to meet individuals that are just as amazing as the ones I created lifelong relationships with at Bill Crothers invigorates me. No matter where life takes me, I will always be tied to Bill Crothers Secondary School. Once a Colt, forever a Colt. 

Sincerely,

Loic Tagne

BCSS (Class of 2019)

Harvard (Class of 2023)

Make Opportunities

My biggest piece of advice is to get involved and invest into your school. This could look like making meaningful relationships with your teachers, playing on school teams or joining clubs and activities. If you do not make any club or team, don’t be discouraged! Instead, remember that there is an opportunity waiting for you. In grade 9 I applied for BCLC (student council) and I did not get in, I also tried out for field hockey and didn’t make it, but I kept getting involved and trying new things and I ended up getting on council as well as joining a lot of other clubs and teams that have developed me into the person I am today! Put yourself out there, go make mistakes, go fail and go learn. BCSS is such a unique and wonderful school, so take advantage of all the opportunities you have to make a difference and to impact your school. As a grade 9 you may feel like you can not do much, but I encourage you to go out and try everything you can because when you do, you will realize that you are capable of more than you ever thought you could do. 

Being successful in life, not only in school comes with setting priorities and having a schedule that you will stick to. It is easy to get distracted by the things around us, as us teenagers are always a few clicks and scrolls away from seeing tons of things online. My highest quality work always came when I was able to get in the zone. Understand that there's always time to relax once you get all your work done. Telling yourself, "I am going to work for 50 minutes and then have a 10 minute break", or something along the lines of that is a great way to get your mind into the zone. Don't take this to the extreme though, the break portion counter-intuitively is critical to your success, you need to allow your brain some time to relax, don't burn yourself out. If you are trying to juggle too many things at once, like doing a project, studying for a test, and checking your phone every five minutes, you're never going to get anything done. So, manage your time very effectively, and if you want to get something done, put all your effort into that one thing, then move onto knocking the next task off your to do list. By doing this, I was able to manage my time much more effectively, and also produce higher quality work. Especially for the athletes out there, time management is of the upmost importance. Another thing that will help one succeed is to stop procrastinating, no one is perfect at this, I know I am not. It's really easy to put things off and say "I'll do this later", but the truth is, the sooner you get it done, the sooner that weight will be lifted off your shoulders. It's really hard to not procrastinate, but personally when I didn't procrastinate, I felt so much better. This ties back into my last point about taking things one at a time, if you do things as they are handed out, you can put all your effort into that one thing, and not have to juggle so many things at once. In conclusion, the best way to be successful is to manage your time effectively, reduce distractions while working, and stop procrastinating.

My name is Aaliyah Scott and I attended Bill Crothers for the 2018/2019 school year. It was my final year of high school and I made a great choice to move there! Given the busy soccer schedule that I had, it was so important to be at a school that could accommodate my needs as an athlete. It is very hard to do poorly at this school because of the resources provided such as ILIP and HPA, which I had. But it was my responsibility to use them wisely. At times in the year, especially when I was feeling more fatigued and stressed, it was easy to take these resources for granted because rest would be on my mind. Though, I had to remind myself in those times that what I had at this school was nothing I have ever experienced before in high school. Overall, I had a fantastic year and I maintained good grades. My advice for any athlete returning or that is about to enter BCSS, is to really take advantage of HPA and especially ILIP because they will help to manage your time and excel your grades especially when you have late night practices! These resources aren’t like any other school I’ve been to and I’ve been to many! Enjoy it and explore all the programs, as you will not get these years back! Thank you BCSS!

Like anything, stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself in what you thought you were previously capable of is something that is critical  in augmenting your experience at BCSS. Before I stepped up and pushed myself into leadership roles in the Bill Crothers leadership council I was not previously outspoken. Finding something like student council opened my eyes to my ability to push myself. To run and become president allowed me to fully maximize my BCSS experience. The best way to make the most out of your experience is to step up and get involved. Once I got involved and challenged myself I truly enjoyed my BCSS experience and took everything I was involved in as a learning opportunity. Likewise, these learning opportunities that I have encountered over the past four years will assist me in my future endeavours as I move forward as a student-athlete.  I believe the most valuable thing to take into your experiences at BCSS is the will and drive to learn and challenge yourself because when you challenge yourself and step up, great opportunities will always follow. 

Bill Crothers is an incredibly diverse environment with so many different people to meet and experiences to enjoy. Being a Colt is a privilege; you were chosen to be here and uphold this title, so make the most of it! Everyday you get to walk into a building full of opportunities and teachers who care about your success. I suggest showing that you’re invested in your education early on, because your teachers will recognize this and be more eager to reciprocate this investment in you. Also, take advantage of ILIP! It is an hour a day to visit your teachers for extra help and formative feedback - one of the largest differentiators and contributors to success at BCSS. Lastly, be kind to, and acknowledge everyone. Smile at your classmates, thank the caretakers in the halls, and say good morning to your teachers when you come to class. Respect and be grateful for these teachers because not only are they passing down knowledge to you, but they’re also the ones who will write references for you, provide you with guidance, or supervise any clubs you want to start. It’s important to establish these relationships early on and build your family within the school. Overall, you really do get out what you put in, which is very exciting given how much potential awaits you as a Colt!

Bill Crothers Secondary School offers plenty of resources to its students to assist them in achieving success in all aspects of life. I was successful because I fully utilized them. ILIP is underrated at BCSS as many students do not realize how much work can be done and how much help they can receive. I was part of many sports teams and clubs, and thus I missed quite a bit of class time due to competitions. ILIP allowed me to catch up and receive one on one time with my teachers. Teachers are another great tool that I especially went to for help when I was unclear about certain topics and for guidance on my assignments. This played a major role in my academic success, as I maintained a ninety plus average throughout my four years. I was also successful in my athletics as the coaches/teachers on the teams I was on knew the students’ strengths and weaknesses, which allowed them to tailor practices to each student-athlete while developing the team. My success at BCSS has allowed me to pursue my post-secondary education at Schulich in the BBA program.

Bill Crothers allows athletes to learn and achieve to the greatest of their ability. My name is Emma Irwin and throughout my four years at Crothers I was able to develop essential skills that allowed me to excel both in athletics and academics. Coming into Crothers I played only competitive hockey. By the end I had participated in field hockey, hockey, track and field, badminton, and basketball. Academically I always had a heavy schedule filled with science and math courses. For student athletes starting their journey at Bill Crothers, I cannot stress enough the importance of balancing school and sports. Time management is one of the most important skills to master. Using ILIP well to get work done was essential for my success and I strongly recommend using it wisely. Managing and scheduling studying, practices, and workout is fundamental as well. A good work ethic is another essential skill. Being able to put in the work and choose priorities will lead any student athlete to success. On another note, my biggest piece of advice is to participate in as many sports or clubs as you possibly can while at Bill Crothers. They teach you so many valuable life skills you simply cannot learn in a classroom. Next year I will be studying medical sciences at Brock University while participating on their varsity women’s hockey team. I look forward to this next chapter and am confident in my ability to succeed as a student athlete thanks to my four years here at Bill Crothers.

I came to Bill Crothers knowing no one and trust me it was scary. An entirely new world full of new people and I didn't know a single one. This frightened me for some time but I quickly realized that by getting out there and becoming a part of clubs and activities was the best way for me to meet new people and build relationships. Trust me I know its scary putting yourself out there but with an environment as great as Crothers everyone is on your team and wants you to succeed. With great tools and facilities such as guidance and the scoreboard I knew about the upcoming clubs and events and was able to join in on all the fun. I played rugby, golf, football, and was even on student council and by getting out there I made so many new friends who will stay with me for the rest of my life. Crothers isn't about fitting in, it's about shining in your own way and the best way to do that is to use the resources around you to make yourself into a better individual with the confidence that you coaches/teachers are very invested in your success. 

To be a successful student athlete at Bill Crothers, it was very crucial to make use of my Ilip and study time for homework and projects during the school time, so that I was able to focus on my athletics when I got home. Ilip was a great resource for me for working on homework, however it also allowed me to mentally relax, giving me a break through the day to talk to my friends and destress from any prior classes or events, before going back to completing my work. I felt I was more productive with the opportunity to take a little break from my work, and could relax and refocus. Learning how to manage your time as a student athlete is very important because most days, I was playing school sports after school, and was leaving right after to get home and go back out to my personal athletics. I did not have much time to complete homework at home, and learned how to properly use my time at school, to allow me to prepare and focus on my soccer at home, relieving stress about finishing my work on time. I am attending Quinnipiac University this coming fall for soccer, and learning how to manage my school work and athletics in high school, is a skill that will greatly help me throughout my university experience, as I know I am going to be busy, but this skill will also be crucial later on in my life when I get into the workforce.

My name is Ali Khaleghi and I am a graduate of the class of 2019 at Bill Crothers Secondary School. To say that I thoroughly enjoyed my high school experience would be an understatement, but with the benefit of hindsight, I realize that my time at Crothers could have shockingly been even better. Bill Crothers offers a multitude of community environments to take part in, many of which I only became aware of/involved in during my junior and senior years. Through involving myself in Badminton, Rugby, Student Council, and other community opportunities, a culminating effect was a high school experience that felt prosperous. I had the opportunity to cultivate meaningful relationships and make life during and outside of school so much more fun. Thus my primary advice for anyone looking to make the most of their 4 years at Bill Crothers would be to get involved early on and unlike myself, make the freshman and sophomore years count too. Don’t get me wrong, those years were still very positive, but for the optimal Bill Crothers experience, I strongly recommend immersing yourself in various extra-curricular activities right away, and Crothers will quickly feel like home.