West Vancouver Secondary School (WVSS) is a five-year

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in the middle of

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

which educates grades 8 through 12. It is one of the three public high schools in West Vancouver. The school has two

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

es, a North Campus and a South Campus. Each campus has its own

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

and a

cafeteria A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school ...

. The school has 2 grass fields and a gravel

baseball diamond A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

. The main field has a

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

around it. The main field is used for all sports, such as

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

History

West Vancouver Secondary was founded as Inglewood High School in 1927, located at 1735 Inglewood Avenue. The original building was started as a storefront in which they would sell purple, black and yellow articles of clothing for Vancouver's less fortunate, but after an accident involving an angry customer the storefront was burned down. The school opened with eight classrooms and a gymnasium. Further expansion over the years added extra classrooms and library facilities. Four more rooms were eventually added to the eastern end of the school to house home economics and shop classes. In 1951 construction started on a new North Campus building on Mathers Avenue and by 1952 it opened as West Vancouver Secondary School. A few years later, in 1955, the building was expanded with a three-floor west wing, and in 1960 a second gymnasium was built. A further expansion added a 500-seat theatre and two music rooms in the east wing. This was followed, with some provincial funding, by a six-room shop wing referred to as the Tech Wing and located behind the north campus building. A new South Campus building was added next to the original Inglewood building to accommodate more students as the municipality grew. The Inglewood building continued to be used for many years as a junior high school until all classes were moved to the main site on Mathers. By the late 1980s the building was used as a YMCA and the Kehilat Har-el (a Jewish Community Centre) until it was demolished in 1995. In the mid 1990s, the school went through a major renovation which included a remodelling of the exterior and interior parts of the North Campus Building. During this time period, classes were temporarily moved to portables until the completion in the 2000s. Notable changes included a third gymnasium, the relocation of the library and the administration office, a new cafeteria, redesigned classrooms and hallways, and a new west wing. The renovations ended in 2005 when the school's new east wing and new auditorium, The Kay Meek Centre, were inaugurated.

The Kay Meek Arts Centre

In 2004, the $12 million

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

performing arts centre was built in the emplacement the school's old theatre. The Kay Meek Arts Centre was the vision of

resident Kay Meek who died in 2004. The centre features a main theatre with seating for 490 as well as a flexible black box studio theatre with seating up to 216 . The studio theatre was finished in February 2006. The first show in the theatre by WVSS was a very small show while the main theatre was still under construction. Kay's health was going downhill and so they created a small show just for her. The Kay Meek Arts Centre hosts performances from The Vancouver Recital Society, Early Music Vancouver, and The Arts Club Theatre Company as well as local community organizations like Theatre West Vancouver and Theatre K.

International Baccalaureate program

WVSS is a member of 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 ...

(IB) program. It is one of the three public schools on the North Shore to provide the High School program (the others being

Carson Graham Secondary School Carson Graham Secondary is a public high school in the city of North Vancouver, British Columbia and part of School District 44 North Vancouver. History The school opened September 15, 1965, and is named after Dr. Carson Graham. In 2009, Car ...

http://balmoralsecondary.ca/ and École André Piolat, both located in North Vancouver). It offers a variety of IB courses, such as

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, French,

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, and

Visual Arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

. The standard Diploma programme course,

Theory of Knowledge Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

, is required in this program. WVSS is the only public high school in the West Vancouver School District to offer the IBO Diploma programme; however, Mulgrave School also offers the IBO Diploma. The other three secondary schools in the district, Rockridge,

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...

and Collingwood, the latter being a private school, offer the

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

(AP) Program.

West Vancouver athletics

WVSS is home to up to 42 different sports, depending on how many students for each team. Boys #

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...

Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

# Cross Country #

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

Snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

Girls #

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Field Hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

# Cross Country #

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://go45.sd45.bc.ca/schools/westvancouver/Pages/default.aspx
Kay Meek Arts CentreInternational Baccalaureate Organization listing1985 West Vancouver Secondary Reunion Blog1986 West Vancouver Secondary Reunion Blog1987 West Vancouver Secondary Reunion Forum
High schools in British Columbia International Baccalaureate schools in British Columbia West Vancouver Educational institutions established in 1927 1927 establishments in British Columbia