The Arts

The arts department includes Visual Art, Music, Dance and Drama. Earl of March is well-known for having an exceptional arts program in all areas. Students have numerous opportunities to participate in the arts, including visits to the National Gallery of Canada, concert band performances, the dance showcase and an annual field trip to the Stratford Festival. Visual art students, at all grade levels, showcase their work at Awards Night and during shows at the end of each semester. Visual art students have been involved in many community projects; murals for the Queensway overpass, Nortel and the Ottawa Lynx Stadium are three examples. Our visual art students also participate in art competitions; the Board’s logo was designed by an Earl student.

Music students who are enrolled in band classes perform a minimum of two concerts and entertain at local functions. Concert bands and jazz bands compete in regional and national competitions, and the end result is frequently the “Gold” standing.

Information on Course Selections

In grade 9, students choose an arts credit. Students take visual art, drama or one of the following music courses: instrumental or keyboard. Instrumental students are encouraged to opt for an extra half credit in band (AMR10), which is offered outside the regular timetable.

In visual art, in addition to the core program, courses in media arts, ceramics, applied design, photography, life drawing, drawing and painting(portfolio) and yearbook are offered. No experience in visual art is needed to take grade 10 core(AVI20), media arts (ASM20) or ceramics(AVC20). Earl of March has offered a specialized visual art program for many years. This program allows students to develop their skills throughout their high school years as they are introduced to a variety of techniques and approaches. Many of our students have continued their studies in visual art at the college and university levels.

Music students during grades 10 – 12 have the choice of instrumental, keyboard, guitar, and vocal courses. No experience is needed to take grade 10 keyboard, grade 10 guitar, or grade 10 vocal classes. Students in instrumental music are encouraged to sign up for band (half credit) in grade 10. If instrumental students have a half credit from grade 9 band, then they should choose another half credit for grade 10 band (two half credits to complete one credit). Full band credits are available during both grades 11 and 12. Band credits are co-curricular with instrumental classes. The success of the music program provides a sense of community for music students. Some graduates of EOM Music have pursued careers as music critics, music teachers, professional jazz musicians and professional classical musicians.

Dance courses are offered during grades 10, 11 and 12. Eighteen dance students have been accepted into professional schools, and two students have received international recognition. One Earl graduate received a full scholarship to the world-renowned Martha Graham School in New York, and one Earl student won an International Ballet Scholarship at the prestigious Phyllis Beddels Competition, in London, England.
Drama is an option at every grade level. Students may chose grade 10 drama (ADA20) with no background in drama. The Earl’s drama program provides a great training ground to aspiring actors and theatre personnel; some of our graduates are currently pursuing drama at the university level.

All visual art, music, dance and drama courses are subject to sufficient enrollment.

At Earl of March, arts students have the opportunity to obtain an Arts Certificate upon graduation. This certificate recognizes a completion of a minimum of six arts courses. See the Arts Certificate link.

We offer a wide-range of extracurricular activities in the arts for students. See the Extracurricular link.
For course outlines and additional information, see the OCDSB course calendar.