École secondaire Henri-Bourassa is a Francophone public and mixed secondary school located in

Montréal-Nord Montreal North (french: Montréal-Nord) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city of Montréal-Nord on Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. It was amalgamated into t ...

borough in Montreal. Part of the

Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île The Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île (CSSPÎ) is an autonomous school service centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, based primarily in the city's east end, appointed by the Ministry of Education. It serves French public schools in ...

(CSSDM), it was originally in the catholic School board Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal (CECM) before the 1998 reorganization of School boards from religious communities into linguistic communities in Quebec. In 2019, the school had 2,116 students and 100 teachers. École Secondaire Henri-Bourassa

History

In 1967, the Ministère de l'Éducation (Québec) implement the concept of écoles polyvalentes arising from the

Parent Commission The Royal Commission of Inquiry on Education in the Province of Quebec, better known as the Parent Commission, was a commission established in 1961 by the newly elected Lesage government to investigate the education system in Quebec up until the 19 ...

Report published between 1963 and 1966. Two factors have contributed to the creation of those schools all over Quebec:

baby-boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. The ...

and

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. This type of polyvalent schools involve two elements: general education and professional education. It is in this political context that the Polyvalente Henri-Bourassa was created and the school will be inaugurated in 1967. It formerly separated the girls and boys inside the school until 1970. The school's name is linked to French Canadian politician and journalist

Henri Bourassa Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa (; September 1, 1868 – August 31, 1952) was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. In 1899, Bourassa was outspoken against the British government's request for Canada to send a militia to fight fo ...

. It was a symbolic act in 1967 to give the school a name that was not referring to a saint but for someone who was known as a free thinker and independent to set the will to enter in modern times. Also, many young teachers were hired being in contrast with the religious role at that time.

School and facilities

The school has 4 floors, is covered mainly with brown bricks with lots of windows and highlighted with a long modular panel in concrete on the side by Blain, Beaudoin, Bujold architects. The school is located on a public urban block where we can find, among other things, an elementary school, an arena, a fire station and Henri-Bourassa park with soccer and basketball fields. It was created under the concept of a school-park where the facilities can be shared between the School board and the borough. In addition to classrooms, the school has several gyms, a library, science labs, art workshops, a cafeteria and a cultural café. The school has 2 outdoor basketball courts, 4 tennis courts, a skatepark and a shared soccer pitch located in a nearby park. In 2019, the Montreal-Nord borough, the Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l’Île and the City of Montreal announced the plans for the construction of a new 1000 m2 multifunctional pavilion for social activities and also a paddling pool and a water play area in the Henri-Bourassa school and park.

Programs

The school offers the regular program and the International Baccalaureate program. This school offers the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

program since 1999. This program allows student to develop world views, abilities, intellectual methods, sense of responsibility, team project competencies and global understanding of international issues. It stimulates their curiosity and open-mindedness to other cultures and their willingness to learn.

Culture

École secondaire Henri-Bourassa is known for its cultural diversity,the school welcomes students from various ethnic backgrounds. The cultural life of Henri-Bourassa is very rich, holding events and presentations of music, visual art, theatre, improvisational theatre, dance, fashion, literature, excellence gala and cultural trips. There is also a popular activity called English Club that is offered to secondary 1 and 2 students.

Sports

Whether they are competitive or recreative, sports are at the heart of Henri-Bourassa's activities. The school has 18 sport teams including basketball, flag football, futsal, soccer, athletics, cross-country, cheerleading, swimming and volleyball. Also, it is possible to do weight training, hockey cosom, badminton, ping-pong and, besides an outdoor club, a relay race between Montreal-Nord and Quebec. "Les Béliers" are their logo and symbol, and is an important source of pride, attachment and school identity among all cohorts.

Notable students

Denis Coderre Denis Coderre (born July 25, 1963) is a Canadian politician from Quebec. Coderre was the member of Parliament for the riding of Bourassa from 1997 until 2013, and was the Immigration minister from 2002 to 2003 and became the mayor of Mont ...

, former Member of Parliament and former mayor of the City of Montreal

References

External links

School website (French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecole Secondaire Henri-Bourassa High schools in Montreal International Baccalaureate schools in Quebec Montréal-Nord Educational institutions in Canada with year of establishment missing