Delbrook Senior Secondary School
Encyclopedia
Delbrook Senior Secondary was a public high school from 1957 to 1977 in North Vancouver, British Columbia
, Canada
, part of School District 44 North Vancouver
.
The catchment area boundaries in the north Lonsdale area changed with time. According to Rosemary Redfield (nee Gagne) during the 1964-65 school year the catchment area extended at least as far east as St. Mary's Street.
planned to phase out Delbrook by June 1979. However, on January 28, 1977, a fire started in the lower section of the school doing $2M damage. Students completed the 1977 year at nearby Balmoral Junior Secondary
, but retained their separate school identity and classes by going in shifts. In June Delbrook as an institution was formally closed two years earlier than proposed.
A University of British Columbia
master's thesis studied Delbrook's sudden closing on the effects it had on grade 11 and 12 students being forced to transfer late in their high school careers. It found minimal impact on those transferring, except for some difficulty integrating into the established student body.
The remaining buildings, including the gymnasium and cafeteria (which both survived the fire) now operates under North Vancouver Parks and Recreation as the Delbrook Community Recreation Centre.
(In 2009 Balmoral Junior Secondary became part of the Carson Graham Secondary School as its Balmoral campus. Balmoral is slated to permanently close in 2012.)
With the opening of Balmoral Junior Secondary
in 1959, Delbrook focussed on grades 10, 11 and 12. In 1969, the grade 10 class was split between the two schools. Beginning 1971, Delbrook offered grades 8 to 12.
Delbrook was known for large production musicals, including:
The Wizard of Oz was taken from a 1945 stage play using songs from the 1939 film; adapted by Frank Gabrielson for the St. Louis Municipal Opera.
's 2003 novel Hey Nostradamus!
begins at a fictional Delbrook Senior Secondary in 1988 about a Columbine
-like massacre at the school, the latter took place April 1999 in Jefferson County, Colorado
.
, rugby union
, gymnastics, baseball, wrestling
, volleyball
, field hockey
, basketball
, swimming
, tennis
and golf
.
The Senior Boys football team captured the Shrine Bowl Provincial Championship
in 1969, beating Maple Ridge Secondary 13-9 at Empire Stadium. The team was coached by former Canadian Olympian Bill Parnell. Murray Wimbles won outstanding lineman and Martin Smith won outstanding back for the game. The team also competed annually with North Vancouver High School for "The Helmet" in football and "The Shoe" in basketball as well as with neighbouring Carson Graham High School
in football for "the Cage".
The Senior Girls basketball team finished second in the British Columbia tournament in 1962. The Senior Boys basketball team won four consecutive league championships with their best season being 1966-67 when they had a 26-7 won-lost record.
The Senior Tennis team won the 1968 BC provincial championships led by singles winners Michelle Carey and David Johnston.
On January 8, 1970, a four-year, major renovation of the school gymnasium was completed by Thompson, Berwick, Pratt and Partners.
North Vancouver, British Columbia
There are two municipalities in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada, that use the name North Vancouver. These are:*The City of North Vancouver...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, part of School District 44 North Vancouver
School District 44 North Vancouver
School District 44 North Vancouver is a school district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The district is located immediately north of the city of Vancouver, across the Burrard Inlet...
.
History
Delbrook opened in 1957 as only the second secondary school in North Vancouver (District or City), joining North Vancouver High School which itself opened in 1910. Delbrook was named for the area and avenue north of Westview in the city and district, east of Mosquito Creek and west of Lonsdale. Approximately 100 students from the graduating class of 1958 were moved from North Vancouver Secondary to form the first graduating class.Catchment area
Its catchment area was bounded in this manner: from the North Shore mountains directly south along Lonsdale Avenue to 29th Street, then east to St. George's Road. Then south to Highway #1, then west to Mosquito Creek, again south to the top of the hill on Edgemont Blvd. north of 21st Street where it ran west again above 21st Street, to turn north again back to Highway #1 to include all houses on the west and east sides of Edgemont south of the highway. The area was then bounded by a line going west along Highway #1 to MacKay Creek, where it turned north along the creek to a western-line north of all property along Woods Drive to the Capilano River. Then north along the river, turned east north of Capilano Crescent and again along the middle of Ridgewood Drive to MacKay Creek, where it turned north along the creek to Emsley Creek, where it connected with the corner of Sunnycrest Drive and Highlands Blvd. It continued east between Wentworth Avenue on the south and Sunnycrest on the north to Mosquito Creek, where it finally followed the creek north back into the North Shore mountains.The catchment area boundaries in the north Lonsdale area changed with time. According to Rosemary Redfield (nee Gagne) during the 1964-65 school year the catchment area extended at least as far east as St. Mary's Street.
Fire and closure
Citing district-wide declining enrolment throughout the 1970s, the North Vancouver School BoardSchool District 44 North Vancouver
School District 44 North Vancouver is a school district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The district is located immediately north of the city of Vancouver, across the Burrard Inlet...
planned to phase out Delbrook by June 1979. However, on January 28, 1977, a fire started in the lower section of the school doing $2M damage. Students completed the 1977 year at nearby Balmoral Junior Secondary
Balmoral Jr Secondary School
Balmoral Junior Secondary School was a public high school in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, part of School District 44 North Vancouver. Since the French immersion program left Balmoral Junior Secondary in 2003, that institution saw declining enrollment, to the point where the school...
, but retained their separate school identity and classes by going in shifts. In June Delbrook as an institution was formally closed two years earlier than proposed.
A University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
master's thesis studied Delbrook's sudden closing on the effects it had on grade 11 and 12 students being forced to transfer late in their high school careers. It found minimal impact on those transferring, except for some difficulty integrating into the established student body.
The remaining buildings, including the gymnasium and cafeteria (which both survived the fire) now operates under North Vancouver Parks and Recreation as the Delbrook Community Recreation Centre.
(In 2009 Balmoral Junior Secondary became part of the Carson Graham Secondary School as its Balmoral campus. Balmoral is slated to permanently close in 2012.)
Academics and grade levels
Delbrook offered courses in a variety of subjects, including the humanities, sciences, language arts, linguistics, the arts, and early computer technology.With the opening of Balmoral Junior Secondary
Balmoral Jr Secondary School
Balmoral Junior Secondary School was a public high school in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, part of School District 44 North Vancouver. Since the French immersion program left Balmoral Junior Secondary in 2003, that institution saw declining enrollment, to the point where the school...
in 1959, Delbrook focussed on grades 10, 11 and 12. In 1969, the grade 10 class was split between the two schools. Beginning 1971, Delbrook offered grades 8 to 12.
Musical Theatre
- A Christmas Carol in 1961
- Oklahoma!Oklahoma!Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
in 1965 - Oliver!Oliver!Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
in 1971 - The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1942 musical)The Wizard of Oz is a musical commissioned by the St. Louis Municipal Opera based on the novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz and using the film's songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg...
in 1972 - South PacificSouth Pacific (musical)South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
in 1973.
The Wizard of Oz was taken from a 1945 stage play using songs from the 1939 film; adapted by Frank Gabrielson for the St. Louis Municipal Opera.
Hey Nostradamus!
Douglas CouplandDouglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...
's 2003 novel Hey Nostradamus!
Hey Nostradamus!
Hey Nostradamus! is a novel by Douglas Coupland centred around a fictional 1988 school shooting in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia and its aftermath. This is Coupland's most critically acclaimed novel. It was first published by Random House of Canada in 2003...
begins at a fictional Delbrook Senior Secondary in 1988 about a Columbine
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
-like massacre at the school, the latter took place April 1999 in Jefferson County, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Notable Alumnae and staff
- Ab BryantChilliwack (band)Chilliwack are a Canadian rock band that had their heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. Although they are a Canadian band, the members were all born in, as well as reside in, the United States of America. They are perhaps best remembered for their five biggest songs "My Girl ", "I Believe", "Whatcha...
- bassist for ChilliwackChilliwack (band)Chilliwack are a Canadian rock band that had their heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. Although they are a Canadian band, the members were all born in, as well as reside in, the United States of America. They are perhaps best remembered for their five biggest songs "My Girl ", "I Believe", "Whatcha...
, the rock band - Sandra Hartley Cousins - née Hartley, 1968 Olympian (gymnastics), Western Canadian Champion
- Peter Jepson-YoungDr. Peter Jepson-YoungDr. Peter Jepson-Young, better known as simply Dr. Peter, was a medical doctor in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who promoted AIDS and HIV awareness and education in the early 1990s through his regular segment on CBC Television news broadcasts called . In this series, Dr. Peter documented his...
1957-1992, Doctor, early AIDS activist and film documentary personality, known the CBC Dr. Peter Diaries Documentary aka The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. PeterThe Broadcast Tapes of Dr. PeterThe Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter is a 1993 documentary film produced by Arthur Ginsberg. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film is based upon the video diary of Peter Jepson-Young, better known as "Dr. Peter", which documented his life as a person with AIDS....
. Class of 1975. - David Johnston, Canadian Junior Mens Tennis Champion 1970, SEC Tennis Champion 1971, BC Mens Tennis Champion 1978
- Greg F. LeeCapilano CollegeCapilano University is an undergraduate-focused, public, coeducational, teaching-intensive university located in the District of North Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is enabled by the University Act...
- President and Vice-Chancellor, Capilano University, North Vancouver - Karen MagnussenKaren MagnussenKaren Diane Magnussen, OC is a Canadian figure skater. She won the silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics, and is 1973 World Champion....
- world figure skating champion 1973, winner of 3 Gold medals who later graduated from Carson Graham School - Joe Mattias - Chief, Squamish First Nation
- Jim Miller - Wrestler, Canadian Juvenile Champion 1969, Pan Am Games medalist 1975, Olympic coach 1988, 1992
- Mike Miller - Pan American Junior Championships Gold Medalist 1973
- Linda MooreLinda MooreLinda Moore is a Canadian world champion curler. Since 1989, she has been a member of the TSN curling coverage team along with Vic Rauter and formerly Ray Turnbull .-Career:...
- née Tweedie, former Canadian and World curling champion (1985), colour commentator for TSNThe Sports NetworkThe Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
sports television. - Bill Parnell - physical education teacher and head football coach, BC Sports Hall of FameBC Sports Hall of FameFor over 40 years, the community has entrusted the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum with the responsibility to collect, preserve, study, and interpret materials that relate to British Columbia’s rich sport history...
inductee, winner of the Mile race 1950 British Empire Games, Olympic 1500 meters finalist 1948 & 1952. - Kris PechetSeaquam Secondary SchoolSeaquam Secondary is a public high school in Delta, British Columbia part of School District 37 Delta. It serves the affluent Sunshine Hills neighbourhood in North Delta. Seaquam enjoys a very high reputation for academics, performing arts and athletics...
- coach of Seaquam Secondary SchoolSeaquam Secondary SchoolSeaquam Secondary is a public high school in Delta, British Columbia part of School District 37 Delta. It serves the affluent Sunshine Hills neighbourhood in North Delta. Seaquam enjoys a very high reputation for academics, performing arts and athletics...
football team, 2006 BC AA High School Champions - Ida RandomRain ManRain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
- née Cunningham, nominated for 1988 Academy Award, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Rain Man - Bob RandomRobert RandomRobert Random , usually billed as Bob Random, is a Canadian-born character actor, who appeared in both movies and television from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s.-Television and film roles:...
- né Chambers, character actor in movies and television c. 1955-1990 - Margaret TrudeauMargaret TrudeauMargaret Joan Sinclair Trudeau Kemper is the former wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.-Early years and marriage:...
- née Sinclair, former spouse of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre TrudeauPierre TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
Athletics
The school had teams in footballCanadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
, rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, gymnastics, baseball, wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
, volleyball
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.The complete rules are extensive...
, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
.
The Senior Boys football team captured the Shrine Bowl Provincial Championship
Shrine Bowl Provincial Championships
The Shrine Bowl Provincial Championships is a high school varsity football playoff championship, in the province of British Columbia, Canada; from the years 1966 to 1975.- History :...
in 1969, beating Maple Ridge Secondary 13-9 at Empire Stadium. The team was coached by former Canadian Olympian Bill Parnell. Murray Wimbles won outstanding lineman and Martin Smith won outstanding back for the game. The team also competed annually with North Vancouver High School for "The Helmet" in football and "The Shoe" in basketball as well as with neighbouring Carson Graham High School
Carson Graham Secondary School
Carson Graham Secondary is a public high school in North Vancouver, British Columbia part of School District 44 North Vancouver.In 2009 Balmoral Junior Secondary School closed and the building on Mahon became the second campus to Carson Graham, to hold the grade 8, 9 and 10 classes while Carson...
in football for "the Cage".
The Senior Girls basketball team finished second in the British Columbia tournament in 1962. The Senior Boys basketball team won four consecutive league championships with their best season being 1966-67 when they had a 26-7 won-lost record.
The Senior Tennis team won the 1968 BC provincial championships led by singles winners Michelle Carey and David Johnston.
On January 8, 1970, a four-year, major renovation of the school gymnasium was completed by Thompson, Berwick, Pratt and Partners.
See also
- Balmoral Junior SecondaryBalmoral Jr Secondary SchoolBalmoral Junior Secondary School was a public high school in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, part of School District 44 North Vancouver. Since the French immersion program left Balmoral Junior Secondary in 2003, that institution saw declining enrollment, to the point where the school...
- now Carson Graham Secondary, Balmoral Campus - The HilltoppersThe HilltoppersThe Hilltoppers were an American popular music singing group.-Career:Originally the group was a trio formed at Western Kentucky State College , Bowling Green, Kentucky...
- a 1950s vocal group, shared a name with Delbrook's sports teams