as vegetation, the sky, wildlife) are minimized, while intrinsic stimuli (such as bookshelves, other students in class, computer terminals) are maximized. The idea was that students would then be less distracted and more psychologically conditioned to focus on their studies during the day. However, some classrooms and staff rooms are located in the middle of the school surrounded by walls. This leads to overheating and poor ventilation in summer. At some point the experiment was abandoned, and a new southern wing was built during the 2000–01 school year, complete with windows for every classroom that has an externally facing wall. In the 2012–2013 school year, the school gained local media attention when it was discovered that the principal planned on painting over the murals that adorned the empty spaces above the lockers. Notable alumni Music Damon Richardson - Danko Jones, Change of Heart (band) Dan Kowarsky - b4-4, RyanDan Dave Matheson - Moxy Früvous Dylan Sinclair - R and B Musician Hayden - singer / songwriter Jason Levine - The Philosopher Kings, Prozzak José Miguel Contreras, By Divine Right Liz Teear - By Divine Right Mike Ford - Moxy Früvous, The Cocksure Lads Murray Foster - Moxy Früvous, Great Big Sea, The Cocksure Lads Noah Mintz - hHead, Noah's Arkweld, producer & engineer Raoul Juneja, former VJ, Omni Television Ryan Kowarsky - b4-4, RyanDan Sean Dean - Phleg Camp, The Sadies Scott Davey -The Dishes (band) Steve Berman - By Divine Right Steve Fall - Acid Test (band) Tony Malone -The Dishes (band) Film and television Adam Korson - actor Bill Welychka - former VJ, MuchMusic Cameron Mathison - actor, All My Children Daniel Magder - actor, Life With Derek Ernie Grunwald - actor Jian Ghomeshi - media personality, ex-host of CBC's Q Kai Soremekun - director/actor, Heat Lauren Collins - actress, Degrassi: The Next Generation Sheila McCarthy - actor Stu Stone - actor/musician, Donnie Darko, My Pet Monster, Blowin' Up Sports Rob Rusnov - Canadian archer who competed in the Pan American Games Leonard Miller - Canadian basketball player Politics Jim Watson (Canadian politician) - mayor of Ottawa, (2010 to 2022) Other Gordon Korman - youth novel writer Mark Scheinberg - co-founder and former CEO of PokerStars Moez Surani - poet Parham Aarabi - professor (University of Toronto), entrepreneur See also List of high schools in Ontario References Further reading Cases in Organizational Study Thornlea: a case study York