Western Canada High School

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Western Canada High School
Motto: Intelligentia, Vires, Virtus (Latin for: Understanding, Strength, Courage)
Address
641 17 Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Information
School board	Calgary Board of Education
Religious affiliation	None (since 1926)
Principal	Carol Grant-Watt
Funding type	Private (1903 - 1928, as Western Canada College) Public (since 1928)
Grades	10, 11, 12
Campus	Urban
Established	1903
Enrollment	1,978 (September 2006)
Grade 10	575
Grade 11	678
Grade 12	725
Homepage	http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b816/

Western Canada High School is a public senior high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It has classes for grades 10 through 12. Western is located in the 17th Avenue business district of the Mount Royal community, and is the most centrally located public high school in Calgary. As of the end of May 2006, extensive plumbing and electrical damage was found in the school; this was attributed to both age and lack of maintenance. There have been rumours that the inside of the building was to be demolished and reconstructed, keeping the historic facade preserved, but there is no evidence that the Calgary Board of Education is considering any drastic changes to the building.

1 History
2 Special programs
3 Notable alumni
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The original school building was completed in 1903 as a British-style exclusive high school for boys called Western Canada College (not a college in the North American sense of the word). It was created by "The Western Canada College Bill of Incorporating Ordinance" enacted by the Government of the Northwest Territories, which Calgary was then a part of before the province of Alberta was created in 1905.^[1]

The private school had financial problems and was sold to the Calgary Board of Education. The CBE renamed it, re-opened it as public school, and constructed additional buildings on the land.

Western was Calgary's first composite high school, providing both technical and academic courses of study. The school has been substantially renovated and additions have been made to the building over the years. Linda Raasveldt became the first female principal of the school in 2002.

[edit] Special programs

The school provides French and Spanish language as a second language instruction. In addition, it is one of a select number of schools in Calgary to offer French immersion. Western is one of a small number of Calgary high schools to offer an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme in English, and is the only Calgary high school to offer the program in French. It is also the only school in Alberta to offer Higher Level IB mathematics. The school also offers an extensive performing and visual arts program, and offers a certificate to recognize students that have made fine arts a focus of learning at the high school level. Fewer than 20 students received the certificate in 2006.