Etobicoke School of the Arts

The Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) is a specialized public arts-academic high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in Etobicoke, it has been housed in the former Royal York Collegiate Institute facility since 1983. Founded on September 8, 1981, the Etobicoke School of the Arts has the distinction of being the oldest, free standing, arts-focused high school in Canada. Overview ESA is part of the Toronto District School Board and accepts students from all over southern Ontario from Grade 9 to 12. The school runs on a two-day schedule with 4 periods a day. Each week is either week A, or week B, and based on which week it is, the 2 afternoon classes are switched in order to ensure a student does not miss the same class every week for rehearsals or appointments. The female-to-male ratio of the school is about 4 to 1.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tdsb.on.ca/profiles/new_profiles/2905.pdf|title=TDSB School Profile" Our Students|website=tdsb.on.ca|access-date=24 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093816/http://www.tdsb.on.ca/profiles/new_profiles/2905.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> The school has been publicized in Maclean's, The Toronto Star and in a national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. As well, in the September 2006 issue of the Toronto arts magazine Toronto Life, ESA was named Toronto's best arts high school and is also widely known as the best arts high school in Canada. The school was the feature of CTV's Canada AM'' in September 2006. History