School Application Process

Come join us and see what BCSS has to offer!  It is recommended you review information under "Prospective Colts".  We are more that just a sports school, which is why the most important thing for you to determine is if Bill Crothers is a good fit for your family, and ultimately your student. There are many things to consider - transportation, schedules, your day-to-day and yearly schedules, and the program(s) for which you are looking.

This goes over information that you will require during the completing of your application.  It is important to know that once you start the application, you cannot save and then go back to finish.  Once started - you must complete the application in one sitting.

Things to organize prior to submission:

1. Create a Google Account:  If you or your student already have a Google account than there is no need to set up an additional account.

2. *Coach Reference:  Speak with the coach of the highest sport in which your student participates to obtain the correct email address.  Advise the coach they will receive a digital reference form once your application is submitted.  If an incorrect email has been provided, the reference form will not be received which will therefore make your application incomplete. 

   1. Note: Please ensure you have listed the correct email address for your coach as references are completed digitally. Only one coach reference can be submitted.

   2. The coach cannot be a parent or relative of the applicant, and should be a different person from the teaching reference. 

3. Teacher Reference - Speak with one of your student's current teacher, or a teacher who has taught your student within the last year.  The teacher should have taught you student a core subject (Math, English, Science, History/Social Studies) within the last year. Advise the teacher they will receive a digital reference form once your application is submitted.  If an incorrect email has been provided, the reference form will not be received which will therefore make your application incomplete. 

   1. Note: Please ensure you have listed the correct email address for your teacher as references are completed digitally. Only one teacher reference can be submitted.

   2. The teacher cannot be a parent or relative of the applicant, and should be a different person from the coach reference. 

4. Academic Information:

   1. Grade 8 Students:  Ensure you have a copy of your student's Grade 7 Final Report Card (a copy must be submitted with your application).

   2. Current Grade 9-12 Students: You will require a copy your most recent completed report card (Semester 1 and Semester 2 of the previous year - i.e. Grade 9 students submit complete grade 8 report.) and a copy of your credit counselling summary.

   3. Obtain your school information - Current School - Name - Address - the Board of Education in which you currently attend, and your current Principal's email address.  You will need to know the name of the home secondary school you are geographically scheduled to attend.

5. Payment: $40 fee upon submission of application.  You can submit your payment through School Cash Online.

Important:

• Please make sure you have a current email address to help with our correspondence with you. 

• Before entering your reference's email into your application - please email them to ensure that it is an active and correct email.

Complete the application form.

1. Complete the online application.   If you have done your preparation - this should only take you about 30 min - 1 hr.   
2. Review your application for accuracy.
3. Print the form then attached the items requested (complete report cards - application fee  $40 (if not done through school cash).
4. Submit your complete application package - in a 8 -1/2" x 11" envelope with student name and current grade on the exterior.  Place in the large black drop box - located inside the main door of Bill Crothers, just outside the main office. 

Complete application package must be submitted by November 3, 2024.

You have submitted your application and Bill Crothers will be sending out emails to your references during the week of November 4th, 2024.

Please ensure your references have received the email - it may have gone to their junk folder or "promotions" filter in their email.  Once they complete the reference, the student applicant will receive a confirmation.  

All applicants will be notified by email by the end of day January 24th, 2025 regarding their application status.  

Students who are on the waiting list will be contacted by email if space becomes available.  We refer to the waiting list right up until the first week of classes in August. 

Each year it can vary and we do accept all grades, although the majority are incoming grade 9's.  Typically a grade 9 cohort would have anywhere between 420-440 students.  For current grade 9-12's, it is dependent on space and varies each semester. 

Each individual application is taken into account and processed on an individual basis.  If there are family connections currently at the school or several students in one family applying in the same year, there is no guarantee that all members are accepted. 

Yes there is a hard copy package to be submitted no later than November 3, 2024.  If a sibling attends, they can drop off the complete application to the drop box located inside the front door and just outside the main office entrance.

No, students would submit the same application.  There is a question on the application that you can indicate that you are looking for 2nd semester entry for this school year.

This counts as sport experience - please review the section above labelled   Recreational?  Competitive for Life?  Highly Competitive?  to know what category your experience falls into.

The full application is taken into account and it is a holistic approach.  We are looking for students who work to their potential.  It is not all just about marks or all just about sport. All areas of the application are taken into account.

Any student residing in York Region is eligible to apply.  Students from outside the board may apply; acceptance is dependent on availability. We have many students from within the region as well as outside.  If you are planning to move into the York Region but have not yet, you are still considered out of the area.  Please use your current address. 

For grade 9 submission you provide the grade 8 report and grade 9 midterm depending on timing since the credit counselling summary would not be sufficient as of the first semester in grade 9 (doesn't have a lot of information for the application). 

We have provided instructions of all you will need to complete the application on our prospective colts page with dropdown options for each step.  

Yes.  

This looks different each  year depending on space but we do offer spots to grade 9, 10, 11, and 12's in January each year.  

As a York Region school we do have a majority of students who live in York Region but also have students who come from outside of the region (Durham, Toronto, etc.)

Yes.

At Bill Crothers we strive to support all students and have a large Special Education Department with a very supportive team.  All IEP students have a SERT who will meet with them regularly and assist them in advocating for their needs in their classes.  We also offer a Learning Strategies program that can serve as a transition into high school.  There are a range of supports depending on the needs of the student and our teachers are understanding and supportive of the various accommodations a student requires.  

 Integrated Learning Instructional Period. Purpose of ILIP: 

1. Give students the opportunity to meet with teachers in subject areas where they need support; 

2. Provides a flexible structure to complete student directed work & homework;  

3. Opportunities to collaborate with classmates and peer mentors.  

What ILIP is NOT:

Free time to chill with friends, extra lunch time. The Ministry of Education is closely tracking student attendance and instructional time. Students must meet the required 110 hours of instructional time for each class. Missing ILIP could result in losing credit(s).

At Bill Crothers we do not just concentrate on athletics, rather this is the lens that we are able to use for our students as they learn in and outside the classroom.  We implement the Ontario Curriculum concentrating on critical thinking, metacognition, and higher order thinking in order to challenge students to thrive and move forward in their learning. We honour all pathways at Bill Crothers.  

On average we have over 60 teams run a year which would be too numerous too list - there are many options for students to try out for the sports in each season and tryouts are communicated through our announcements, instagram and website. 

We have many clubs running this year such as chess club, French club, Model UN, Black Student Alliance, Colt Newspaper, Colts in Action and many more!  Check out our calendar and clubs under the "student" tab to see all that is going on in our building this year.  

We have regular intramural sports for Jr students and Sr Students. These are hosted at lunch and students have the opportunity to sign up.  

There are costs to be aware of such as the uniform, transportation if you choose private bussing, activity and sports fees etc.  

These costs may vary.  We have fees associated with sports that are based on cost recovery the specific teams’ play. The costs are determined in conjunction with the Athletics department and the coach who set out the student fees. For example: Students participating in a volleyball team, will be subject to additional costs (team apparel, extra tournament fees/transportation). All sports programming is subsidized through athletics.

This is a yearly fee for all students that helps to subsidise the many sport programs at Bill Crothers.

We highly recommend using your current grade 8 teacher but understand this might not always be possible in certain circumstances.  It needs to be a teacher in the last 2 school years.  A grade 7 teacher or a current teacher, but not a grade 6 teacher.  You can use a virtual school teacher as a reference. 

Please only submit 1 reference for a teacher and 1 reference for a coach.  Only one each will be accepted.   Letters are not to be submitted, only the completed digital forms that are sent to the provided emails will be accepted.  These forms will be sent directly to your chosen references and they will submit it digitally.  There will be no paper references - all will be completed online and the student applicant does not give anything to the references.  You will receive a confirmation once a reference completes the online reference.

You can use a previous coach in the last 12 months of the sport you've played at the highest level.  If this is a school coach for a school team, that is applicable.  This applies for students who may have been training at a different level a few years ago.  Please use a coach from the last 12 months.

The coach and teacher reference need to be two separate people.  You can decide who the teacher reference will be and the coach as long as they are two different people. 

The reference can be a gym teacher etc - someone who has seen the student participate in some sort of sport. (Intramurals, house league etc would qualify for active for life).