independent school
A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
for girls that is located in
Westmount
Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...
,
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. It is situated near other schools, including
Selwyn House School
Selwyn House School (SHS) is an English-language independent K-12 boys' school located in Westmount, Quebec. The school was founded in 1908 by Englishman Captain Algernon Lucas and was named in honour of Selwyn College at the University of C ...
and
The Study
The Study is an English-language private education all-girls school in Westmount, Quebec. The school was founded in 1915 by a young Englishwoman named Margaret Gascoigne. The Study offers a bilingual mother tongue education to 386 students from K ...
. The school teaches students from Kindergarten up to Grade 11.
The annual tuition fees for attending the school range from $24,000 to $29,300. The school also receives subsidies from the provincial government for middle and senior school, which means all students in those sections must have a certificate of eligibility allowing them to attend government-funded English schools in Quebec in accordance with
Bill 101
The ''Charter of the French Language'' (, ), also known as Bill 101 (, ), is a law in the Canadian province of Quebec defining French, the language of the majority of the population, as the official language of the provincial government. It is th ...
. Students without the certificate can attend the non-subsidized junior school section and qualify for the certificate after three years as long as they and any of their siblings have never previously attended a French school. In September of 2024, ECS officially announced it would become a fully independent school as of September 2025, and certificates of eligibility for high school students will no longer be required.
History
Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School was founded in 1909 by Maud Edgar and Mary Cramp. Maud Edgar, who served as the headmistress, was the daughter of the historian and feminist
Matilda Ridout Edgar
Matilda Ridout Edgar (29 September 1844 – 29 September 1910) was a Canadians, Canadian historian and feminist.
She was born Matilda Ridout, became Matilda Edgar by marriage, and became Lady Edgar in 1898 when her husband was knighted.
The mot ...
and the lawyer and politician
James David Edgar
Sir James David Edgar, (August 10, 1841 – July 31, 1899) was a Canadian politician.
In his twenties, Edgar was a law student, legal editor of the '' Toronto Globe'', an alderman on Toronto's city council and an organizer for the Liberal ...
.
The school has always been an all-girls school and began its life in a home on Guy Street in Downtown Montreal. There were 70 girls at the outset, including 15 boarders. The school's initial goals were to equip their pupils with a broad understanding of literature, languages, ethics, fine arts, as well as science and mathematics. The most novel feature of the curriculum was the organization of literature and history.
Forty years later, the school relocated to a building on Cedar Avenue, on the slope of Mount Royal. By then there were approximately 150 girls attending, which included 17 boarders. The school continued to grow in size for another 16 years, and after observing a larger property at the corner of Mount Pleasant and Montrose Avenue in 1964, the school undertook a major fundraising campaign to make the move possible. The official opening took place in November 1964. At that point, ECS became a dedicated
day school
A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...
.
Today, the school is located at 525 Mount Pleasant Avenue, the property bought in 1964. The school's motto is , which translates from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
to English as "not for ourselves alone, but for the city and the world". The school anthem was written by Isabelle Adami.
School organization
ECS is divided into three "schools": junior school (K-grade 5), middle school (grade 6-grade 8) and senior school (grade 9 - grade 11).
Today the school has approximately three hundred students in total from kindergarten to grade 11. There are about 20 students in each grade. Grade 4 and up is divided into two classes. In total, the students are divided into three house groups.
Entrepreneurial Platform (EP)
ECS' Entrepreneurial Platform (EP) is a program that teaches students, starting from Kindergarten, to identify challenges and develop solutions with an entrepreneurial mindset. Projects are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), relating to issues such as poverty, inequality, and climate change.ECS launches a new platform designed to give girls entrepreneurial skills , Montreal Gazette /ref>
Music
ECS has both vocal and instrumental extra-curricular activities. Open to middle and senior school students are: Vocal Jazz, Senior Choir, Junior Jazz Band, Senior Jazz Band and Symphonic Ensemble. For the junior students there is a junior choir and an annual junior school musical in addition to their regular music classes.
Every year, both the vocal and instrumental groups each go on a music trip. Previous destinations include Costa Rica, Mexico, Boston, Prague, Orlando, Washington, Philadelphia and New York City.
ECS' Vocal Jazz has been generating musical sound with Selwyn House School's Jazz Band for years now, and won several medals this year in Orlando, Florida, during Spring Break.
Athletics
ECS actively participates in friendly competition for sports. They have a soccer, rugby, basketball, swimming, badminton, curling, golf, tennis, football, track and field, halo, cross country, squash, ski, hockey team and others. ECS is an elite athletic school.
Notable alumni
*
Gretta Chambers
Gretta Chambers (''née'' Taylor; January 15, 1927 – September 9, 2017) was a Canadian journalist and former Chancellor of McGill University.
Life and career
Chambers grew up in Outremont and attended Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School a ...
, journalist and former Chancellor of
McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
*
Carole Corbeil
Carole Corbeil (1952–2000) was a Canadian arts critic and novelist.John Levesque, "Voice-Over a smash success". ''Hamilton Spectator'', May 9, 1992. She was born in Montreal to Québécois parents. Her writing was often informed by the cultura ...
, art critic and author
* Bianca Farella, rugby player
*
Jessica Mulroney
Jessica Mulroney (née Brownstein; born March 14, 1980) is a Canadian fashion stylist and marketing consultant, noted for her previous work with Kleinfeld Bridal ( Hudson's Bay), past guest appearances on television shows ''Good Morning America ...
, fashion stylist
*
Myfanwy Pavelic
Myfanwy Pavelic, DFA (April 27, 1916 – May 7, 2007) née Spencer, was a portrait artist.
Early life and career
Born in Victoria, British Columbia to an upper-class family, her first interests in fine art came after meeting with Emily Carr ...