Join Us!  by Menglan Yong, Grade 6

February, 2023 

Welcome to Clara Brenton. Our school is a well respected public school in Oakridge, London, Ontario, Canada. Our school is placed in a friendly and beautiful neighbourhood, only a few minutes away from the successful high school Oakridge Secondary School. Our student population is about 725 students who all have potential and are bright, kind, and well-behaved. Our school environment is safe, diverse, active, and productive. We make learning fun and easy!

Our mascot is the cougar, and you can buy our spirit wear! Student pictures will be available in the fall using Edge Imaging, and you can order pictures in different backgrounds from Edge Imaging! Class photos will be taken in the spring. Every day, we play the national anthem, “O ‘ Canada”. We have an up-to-date dress code, and we don’t use uniforms. We have “pizza days” on Tuesdays from Byron Pizza. We have 2 semesters and 3 sets of Report Cards.

We accept any student, even if they are still learning how to speak and understand English. A quarter of our student population speaks another language at home. We support many different holidays and celebrations such as Eid, Hanukkah, Easter, Christmas, Lunar New Year, and Halloween.

The grades we offer are JK- Gr. 8. We have multiple classes for each grade! Here at Clara Brenton, we believe in all the students and their unique talents. We have over 60 understanding staff, including 30 classroom teachers, 5 ECEs, 7 specialty teachers, day and night custodians, and a well-respected vice principal and principal.

Our school starts at 9:05 am and ends at 3:35 pm. The subjects include Math, Gym, Language, Geography, History, Health, Social Studies, Science, Music, and Art. Students will start to learn French, the second national language, in Grade 4. Carnaval is celebrated at Clara Brenton in the Winter, inspired by the Carnaval in Quebec City. In Music, we have choir, band instruments, and more enriched programs. Students start learning band instruments in Gr 6, and continue into Gr. 8. We have a special music room where students learn music. We have 2 lunches and 2 recesses. At recess, there are staff supervisors who can help anyone in need. Our school puts safety first.


We have a variety of clubs including Chess Club, Math Club, Le Cafe de Francais, Forest of Reading, and more for the students to choose from. Students can even start their own club! Students may wish to join the School Council if they are in Gr. 7 or 8. The School Council encourages students to participate and engage in democracy. We encourage students to participate in the Caribou Math Contest, but CCAT and EQAO are mandatory assessments. Students will participate in EQAO in Grade 3 and 6.  Students in Gr. 5 or over can offer lunchroom help to their younger peers. We have many sports teams such as basketball, softball, volleyball, and more! We invite students to participate in Cross Country, but Track and Field is mandatory for students Grade 4 and up, as a PE class requirement.

Our school has 2 floors with 24 classrooms, 3 washrooms and 1 change room for each gender, 3 doors, and 2 “Lost and Found” s. We have a stage for performances in our Gym, and a kitchen. We also have 3 water bottle refill stations and water fountains. Our school is extremely wheelchair accessible! We have an elevator. Each class has a smart board, class library, and clock.

We have 6 portables for Gr. 7 and 8. Furthermore, we have a big yard for our students to exercise daily and have fun during recess. Our yard includes 2 big playgrounds, an enormous field with 4 soccer goalposts, a baseball diamond, and our tarmac has 6 basketball hoops, a maze, a hopscotch template, and 3 four-square layouts. We have a kindergarten yard which separates our youngest peers from our older ones. Our school is surrounded by trees provided by a beautiful forest and a cool mini-forest, which gives our students and staff the purest air possible.

We have bike racks for anyone wishing to bike to school. We encourage it, as it saves energy! We also offer 5 buses (4 regular and 1 specialized) for our students’ transportation. Currently, one of these is an electric vehicle.  If you have trouble navigating through a new neighbourhood, don’t worry! We have way finding signs throughout the neighbourhood which also give an approximate time for arrival.

If you want to go out for lunch, there are many restaurants nearby! We offer before and after-school programs for those whose caregivers can’t pick up or drop off their kids within school hours.

We have in total 200 Chromebooks divided into 7 sets which our school shares. Most of the classrooms have smart boards for enriched learning. Our Library consists of over 13800 books by over 4000 authors. We have many different genres of books, including picture books, graphic novels, fantasy, mystery, non-fiction, and more.

Many parents have moved into the local neighbourhood to enroll their children into this fabulous and outstanding school. We hope that you decide to enroll your child into this school. 

• Code of Conduct, revised March 2020