Victoria High School, commonly referred to as Vic High, is a

high 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 '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, Canada. It is the oldest high school in the province, and is often cited as "the oldest public high school in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

History

The high school opened on August 7, 1876, in a log cabin with two classrooms on the school reserve between Yates Street and Fort Street bounded by Fernwood Road, the grounds of the current Central Middle School building. This same cabin had been the first common (or public) school in British Columbia when it was used as a primary school starting in 1853. In 1882, the high school moved to a new wing of a brick building that had been built in 1875–1876 and had been used exclusively as the primary school until occupied by the high school. By 1882 the high school included 80 students and was situated between the primary girls' school in the east wing and the primary boys' school in the west wing. The high school remained pressed between the boys' and girls' central schools until 1903. Victoria's growing population in the 1890s led to Victoria High School being described as "one of the most inadequate school buildings in the Province" by the principal Edward Paul. In 1902 a third Victoria High School was opened which was also quickly outstripped by Victoria's burgeoning population. This facility was designed by Francis Mawson Rattenbury,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

of the

British Columbia Parliament Buildings The British Columbia Parliament Buildings are located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and are home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The Speaker and the Serjeant-at-Arms are amongst those responsible for the legislative ...

and The Empress Hotel (or Fairmont Empress Hotel). Victoria High School 01

The current Victoria High School, the fourth to bear its name, was opened on May 1, 1914, on of land, donated by the City of Victoria, on Grant Street between Fernwood and Camosun Streets. Designed by C. Elwood Watkins, School Architect for the Victoria Board of Education, the school cost slightly more than $460,000. The high school's first principal was S. J. Willis. The Rattenbury-designed school was demolished in 1953 and in 1954 a new Central Junior High School building was constructed. The school was later known as Central Junior Secondary (grades 7 and 8) and currently as a middle school offering French immersion (grades 6–8). It refers to itself as the oldest public school in British Columbia. Peter L. Smith, himself a graduate of the school and son of Henry Lawson Smith, longtime principal of Vic High (1934–1955), wrote a history of the school to mark its centennial celebrations in 1976: ''Come Give a Cheer: One Hundred Years of Victoria High School.'' When the province renamed all its high schools "secondary school", Victoria High School, Oak Bay High School, and Esquimalt High School were the only schools to retain "high school" as part of their names.

Victoria College

In 1903, Victoria College (the precursor to the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

) started as an annex to the high school on the Fort Street site. During 1914–15 Victoria College was located on the top floor of the new Grant Street building. When the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

opened in 1915, Victoria College suspended operation until 1920 when it reopened at nearby

Craigdarroch Castle Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to its landmark status in Victoria. History It was constructed in the ...

Facilities

Architecture

The current school building, which was designed in 1911 and opened in 1914, has been listed on the City of Victoria's Heritage Registry since 1982. The foundations of the school are made of impressively heavy 4-foot-square blocks of granite. The building has two ornate facades, including some very large windows which offer prime views of downtown Victoria and the Fernwood neighbourhood. The building is U-shaped, with a large auditorium inside the U. Additions to the school have turned the spaces between the auditorium and the rest of the building into inaccessible courtyards. The school has two gymnasiums, one of which is from 1914 and is notable for having a wooden running track suspended 20 feet above its floor. There is a rifle range in the attic, and there is an old tradition that the graduating students sign their names there. There are three large underground floors for storage and boiler rooms. There are two war memorials in the school's main entrance, one for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and another for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After the Second World War a large flag (four stories high) was commissioned. It had blue and red maple leaves on it, each representing a student or staff member who died in the war, respectively. It was then lost until 2005, when it was found in the school's basement. For Remembrance Day it was hung from the school's fourth floor.

Fairey Tech

Technical education shops were first opened at Vic High in 1943 as part of the training effort for the

. The facilities were built to the west of the playfield by trainee soldiers with assistance from Vic High students. Trades such as carpentry, bricklaying, and metalwork were taught. In September 1949 classes began in new Industrial Arts facilities which had been added onto the south end of the wartime building to provide shops for electrical, automotive, sheet metal, welding and woodwork plus classrooms and drafting rooms. The enlarged facility was named the F.T. Fairey Technical Unit after Col. F.T. Fairey, the former Deputy Minister of Education, the then-current provincial Director of Industrial and Technical Education and also the Regional Director of the Canadian Vocational Training Program. Fairey Tech immediately became a focal point for technical education in Victoria and beyond, both for daytime and evening adult education classes. Additions were made to the facility In the 1950s, including a much larger auto-shop complex and an electronics shop and classroom. Later renamed the Fairey Technical Centre, in addition to previous disciplines it also housed classes for industrial design, art metal and jewelry, and even dance. The facility was closed in 2011 and replaced with the Fairey Technical Building, a new 57,000 square foot addition to the north side of the main school building.

French immersion

Vic High offers a

French immersion French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French-immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects s ...

program, functioning as a pathway school for both late immersion and some early immersion students from Central Middle School.

Fine arts

Vic High offers a fine arts program, including theatre, music, and dance. There is a neighbourhood choir and a Rhythm and Blues Band

Athletics

The following athletic programs were offered as of the 2017–2018 school year: * Badminton * Basketball * Cross country running * Rowing * Rugby (Girls and Boys 7's) * Soccer * Swimming * Track and field * Volleyball * Weight room training * Intramural programs: basketball, indoor soccer and ring hockey Athletic accomplishments: 2016–17 AAA Sr Boys Basketball South Island Champions, 2017–18 AAA Sr Girls Volleyball South Island Champions The current athletic director is Erin Finlayson.

Weather station

Vic High hosts an active weather station as part of the School-Based Weather Station Network, operated as a partnership between the University of Victoria and several school districts to provide state of the art interactive technologies as part of the school's science program.

Former principals

*S. J. Willis *Ira Dilworth 1926–1934 *Henry L. Smith 1934–1955 *H.D. Dee *G.A.V. Thompson *J.D. (Duncan) Lorimer 1965–1979 *Jack (John) Lowther *Bill (William) Garner *David Watkins 1985–1989 *Keith McCallion 1989–1994 *Dennis Harrigan 1994–2002 *Keith Forshaw 2002–2006 *Stephen Bennett 2006–2010 *Randi Falls 2010–17 *Aaron Parker 2017–

Notable alumni

Samuel Maclure Samuel Maclure (11 April 1860 – 8 August 1929) was a Canadian architect in British Columbia, Canada, from 1890 to 1920. He was born on 11 April 1860 in Sapperton, New Westminster, British Columbia, to John and Martha Maclure. He studied painti ...

, architect *

Simon Fraser Tolmie Simon Fraser Tolmie, (January 25, 1867 – October 13, 1937) was a veterinarian, farmer, politician, and the 21st premier of British Columbia, Canada. Early life Tolmie had a pioneer lineage, which aided him in his political aspirations ...

, premier of British Columbia *

Byron Ingemar Johnson Byron Ingemar "Boss" Johnson (born Björn Ingimar Jónsson; December 10, 1890 – January 12, 1964), served as the 24th premier of British Columbia, from 1947 to 1952. To his contemporaries he was often referred to by his nickname, ''Boss Johns ...

, premier of British Columbia *

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

, artist *

David Anderson David Anderson may refer to: People In academia or science * David Anderson (academic) (born 1952), American college professor * David Anderson (engineer) (1880–1953), Scottish civil engineer and lawyer *David Anderson, 2nd Viscount Waverley (191 ...

, Canadian cabinet minister and MP * Alan Lowe, mayor of Victoria * Hans de Goede, Canadian and Rest of the World rugby player * Mark Wyatt, rugby playerVictoria Times-Colonist, June 2, 2011
retrieved 2012-03-03 *

Michiel Horn Michiel Steven Daniel Horn (born 1939) is a Canadian historian who serves as a professor emeritus at Glendon College, York University. Life and career Horn was born on September 3, 1939, in Baarn, Netherlands. orn, Michiel, Becoming Canadian: Me ...

, professor emeritus of history and university historian at Glendon College, York University, in Toronto *

Mohammed Elewonibi Mohammed Thomas David "Moe" Elewonibi (born December 16, 1965) is a Nigerian-Canadian former offensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was injured just prior to the end of the f ...

, football player * Joseph Clearihue, lawyer * Danielle Bennett, artist * Barry M. Gough, historian *

Sid Barron Sidney Arnold Barron (June 13, 1917 in Toronto – April 29, 2006 in Victoria, British Columbia) was a Canadian editorial cartoonist and artist. During his career as a cartoonist, he drew for the '' Victoria Times'', the ''Toronto Star'', ''Macl ...

, editorial cartoonist
Stephen Dorsey
author

References

External links

Victoria High SchoolVic High Alumni AssociationVic High Alumni ArchivesSchool Report Card
{{Authority control High schools in Victoria, British Columbia Educational institutions established in 1876 1876 establishments in British Columbia