St. John's School (SJS), in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, is an independent, co-educational, non-religious,

IB World School The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

for junior kindergarten to grade 12 students. St. John's School is accredited by the British Columbia Ministry of Education. The school is a member of the Federation of Independent Schools Association (FISA), the

Canadian Accredited Independent Schools Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) is a national organization for independent schools in Canada. The current executive director is Anand Mahadevan. History Canadian Association of Independent Schools The Canadian Association of Independ ...

(CAIS), and the Independent Schools Association of British Columbia (ISABC). St. John's offers the

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

Primary Years Programme The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) is an educational programme managed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) for students aged 3 to 12. While the programme prepares students for the IB Middle Years Programme, it is ...

Middle Years Programme The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) is an educational programme for students between the ages of 11 and 16 around the world as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum. The Middle Years Programme is intended ...

and the

Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

History and future expansion

St. John's was founded in 1986 as St. Andrew's School Society with fewer than 100 students from grades 3 through 10. In 1996, St. John's School purchased the present school facility in

Kitsilano Kitsilano ( ) is a neighbourhood in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named after Squamish chief August Jack Khatsahlano, Kitsilano is located along the southern shore of English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay between Fairview, Vancou ...

and, as part of the school's growth and expansion, land adjacent to the current location has been acquired and developed. The building of the senior school was completed in September 2011. The building includes 11 classrooms and the Gunn gym which is largest gym of any independent school in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

, in addition to the older gym next door. A new connecting building between the Junior and Senior school was opened in mid 2019 as the Arts and Science Center. It also houses the largest

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in all of the Lower Mainland.

Students

As of 2020, there were 570 students in grades junior kindergarten to 12, with the Junior School running from junior kindergarten to grade 5 and the Senior School from grades 6 to 12.

Academics

St. John's School is an IB World School offering the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Programme (junior kindergarten to grade 5), Middle Years Programme (grades 6–10) and the Diploma Programme (grades 11 and 12). St. John's is a university preparatory school. Full-time university advisors provide students with support as they apply to university.

Athletics

St. John's athletics teams compete in the Greater Vancouver Independent Schools Athletic Association (GVISAA), which is recognized by

BC School Sports BC School Sports is the governing body for secondary school sports in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was originally organized in 1965 as the British Columbia Federation of School Athletic Associations (BCFSAA) by a group of intereste ...

, the Independent Schools Association (ISA), the Independent Schools Elementary Association (ISEA), the Canadian Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and provincially at the Single A level. They practice in the school's two gyms, the Gunn Gym and the Junior Gym. In 2025, their basketball team won their first Single A Tournament title at the

Boys Basketball Provincial Championships. St. John's has a variety of sports teams including: *

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

(team and recreational) *

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 (appro ...

Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

(team and recreational) *

Ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

and

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

Track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

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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 ...

St John's also has academic clubs such as

Debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

and School Reach.

Calendar

The school year runs September through June and is composed of three terms. Most courses are linear (year-long) in nature.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's School, Vancouver Elementary schools in Vancouver High schools in Vancouver Private schools in British Columbia Preparatory schools in British Columbia Educational institutions established in 1986 1986 establishments in British Columbia