West Vancouver Secondary School
Encyclopedia
West Vancouver Secondary School (WVSS) is a five-year secondary school
located in the middle of West Vancouver, British Columbia
which educates grades 8 through 12. It is one of the three public high schools in West Vancouver. WVSS is noted for being a very diverse school offering many opportunities for its students, and has a reputation of excellence as a public school. The school has two campus
es, a North Campus and a South Campus. Each campus has its own gym
and a cafeteria
. The school has 2 grass fields and a gravel baseball diamond. The main field has a running track around it. The main field is used for all sports, such as soccer
, football
, and rugby union
.
performing arts centre was constructed over the school's old theatre. The Kay Meek Centre for the Performing Arts was the vision of West Vancouver 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 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.
to provide the High School program (the other being Carson Graham Secondary School
), thus drawing people from Squamish
to Deep Cove
and even downtown Vancouver to the school. It offers a variety of IB courses, such as Biology
, Chemistry
, English
, Film
, French
, Geography
, History
, Japanese
, Mandarin
, Mathematics
, Physics
, Spanish
, Theatre
, and Visual Arts
at higher or standard level. The standard Diploma programme course, Theory of Knowledge
, 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
, Collingwood
, a private school, offer the Advanced Placement (AP) Program.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located in the middle of West Vancouver, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
which educates grades 8 through 12. It is one of the three public high schools in West Vancouver. WVSS is noted for being a very diverse school offering many opportunities for its students, and has a reputation of excellence as a public school. The school has two campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
es, a North Campus and a South Campus. Each campus has its own gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
and a cafeteria
Cafeteria
A cafeteria 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; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
. The school has 2 grass fields and a gravel baseball diamond. The main field has a running track around it. The main field is used for all sports, such as soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, football
Canadian 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...
, and 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...
.
The Kay Meek Centre for the Performing Arts
In 2004, new $12 million CADCanadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
performing arts centre was constructed over the school's old theatre. The Kay Meek Centre for the Performing Arts was the vision of West Vancouver 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 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.
International Baccalaureate program
WVSS is a member of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. It is one of the two public schools on the North ShoreNorth Shore (Greater Vancouver)
"Vancouver's North Shore" is a term commonly used to refer to several areas adjacent to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada:*the District of West Vancouver;*the City of North Vancouver;*the District of North Vancouver; and...
to provide the High School program (the other being Carson Graham Secondary 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...
), thus drawing people from Squamish
Squamish, British Columbia
Squamish is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway...
to Deep Cove
Deep Cove, North Vancouver
Deep Cove refers to both the community in the easternmost part of the District of North Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, and also the geographic name of the small bay beside the town. It is affectionately referred to as "The Cove" by local residents. Located at the foot of Mount Seymour,...
and even downtown Vancouver to the school. It offers a variety of IB courses, such as Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Mandarin
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, and Visual Arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
at higher or standard level. The standard Diploma programme course, Theory of Knowledge
Theory of Knowledge (IB course)
Theory of knowledge is a course in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme which is, in essence, similar to Epistemology courses offered in university.-Course description:...
, 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
Mulgrave School
Mulgrave School is an independent school in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which educates students grades Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12...
also offers the IBO Diploma. The other three secondary schools in the district, Rockridge
Rockridge Secondary School
Rockridge Secondary School is a five-year secondary school located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of the three principal high schools in West Vancouver. The school has a grass field and one baseball diamond...
, Sentinel
Sentinel Secondary School
Sentinel Secondary School is a secondary school located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of three public secondary schools in the West Vancouver district . The school has a grass field, two baseball diamonds, three street hockey courts, and three tennis courts...
, Collingwood
Collingwood School
Collingwood School is an independent, co-educational, university-preparatory school founded in 1984. Located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, it delivers the British Columbia Ministry of Education curriculum from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12....
, a private school, offer the Advanced Placement (AP) Program.