By Nadia Stuewer
Did you know that the Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario (CEAO) is a centre of excellence for the arts housed within the École secondaire publique De La Salle, a public French high school on Old St. Patrick Street? The CEAO celebrated its fortieth anniversary last year, after De La Salle school celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2021-2022.
De La Salle’s inauguration in 1971 as a francophone public high school is an integral part of Lowertown’s history. It was built in a formerly thriving neighbourhood whose homes had been expropriated in Ottawa’s rush to modernize. In 1983, the creation of a strong arts program, the Concentration ARTS turned De La Salle into an arts school.
In 2003, grades seven and eight were added to the existing grades nine to 12, and the school was opened as a community school. This meant that anyone living in the catchment area could go to the school and follow a regular curriculum. The Concentration ARTS became a school within a school.
In 2013, the school officially became a province-wide institution after successfully fighting for sufficient funding, and received its current name, the Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario. In 2022, with funding from all three levels of government, the school opened a new pavilion, with specialized arts classrooms and a state-of-the-art gym, which may become open to the public in the future. The dance and theatre studios are of professional quality. There are soundproof booths for music students to practice in and a large room for a complete orchestra including a harp.
The founders of the Concentration ARTS back in 1983 were inspired by New York’s LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, which was the inspiration for the hit movie Fame. The CEAO focuses on the classical arts, offering eight concentrations: visual arts, contemporary dance, theatre, creative writing, music (choir, strings, winds, and percussion) and most recently, cinema and television.
When the Concentration ARTS opened in 1983, there were 89 students, only two of whom were in the choir concentration. By 2023, the CEAO cohort had grown to 680, of whom 63 were singers.
To be admitted, students must audition for a specific arts concentration (except the students from the community). They take an arts class in their area each semester that allows them to practice their art every day of the school year. CEAO teachers are professional artists as well as qualified teachers. Not only do the arts students practice their art intensively, but they also perform or exhibit regularly, both inside and outside the school. The CEAO’s calendar is full of concerts, plays, and exhibitions. In May 2024 alone, there were 20 events at the school!
Although many students follow their arts through post-secondary studies and go on to successful careers, others pursue all kinds of careers including science and engineering. The head of artificial intelligence (AI) at Facebook is a CEAO graduate, having specialized in strings (music). An arts education provides a lot of life and transferable skills, including handling stress and performance anxiety, self-discipline, and creating harmony together. Most of the art forms taught in the CEAO are not individual – except of course creative writing and visual arts – so there is a strong emphasis on all the skills related to teamwork.
Teachers at De La Salle school find a place for each student, including those who want to contribute to the arts without being performers. Some students find their place in support roles in theatre, for instance in stage lighting. The non-performance options are growing: next year De La Salle will expand its areas of concentration to include hair and makeup, prosthetics and stage design. De La Salle and the CEAO pride themselves in helping every student find their niches, something the students can feel passionate about which makes them want to show up, feel invested, and surpass themselves.
De La Salle is much more than a high school, as it is a key cultural learning centre for the Franco-Ontarian community.
