Riverview Rural High School is a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

located in

Coxheath, Nova Scotia Coxheath is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located north of the Sydney River in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality on Cape Breton Island. The community is home to Riverview Rural High School, a secondary school with app ...

, Canada, a suburb of

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...

. It is attended by approximately 1000 students in grades 9 to 12. The school falls under the jurisdiction of the Cape Breton – Victoria Regional Centre for Education, and is one of the two main high schools in the region, along with Sydney Academy. Red and white are the school's colours.

History

First opening in August 1950, Riverview Rural High School was built on the former site of the Keefe farm in Coxheath, and overlooks

Sydney River The Sydney River is a short river located in Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Historically, it was also referred to as the Spanish River from the 18th century French name for its estuary, Baie d’Espagnols. It separates the communities ...

, from which its name is derived. The annex building was added in 1951–52 to deal with a serious overcrowding problem. The business building was added in 1969 and the

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium and science labs were constructed in the 1980s. A new entrance was completed in 2007, with additional plans for a new library, computer labs, art room, and science labs in the coming years. Declining enrollment numbers led to the high school's annex building being demolished in 2012 and replaced by an employee parking lot. Riverview's first

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

was H.H. Wetmore, and its longest-serving principal was Robert MacKenzie, who served as principal for 30 years. Riverview offers French Immersion Certificates, Advance Certificate Programs, university preparatory, honours level courses, business and high school graduation courses.

Administration

* Principal: Marlene Urquhart * Vice Principal: Scott Murchison * Vice Principal: Coralie MacPhail

Notable alumni

David Dingwall David Charles Dingwall (born June 29, 1952) is a Canadian administrator, former Canadian Cabinet minister and civil servant. He is the president of Cape Breton University. Political career A lawyer by training, Dingwall was first elected to t ...

- former federal MP

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

cabinet minister *

Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American actor, comedian, writer and television host. He is best known for having hosted the CBS late-night talk show ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2005–2014). He is the winner of ...

- former professional

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player *

Michael Forgeron Michael Joseph "Mike" Forgeron (born 24 January 1966, in Main-à-Dieu, Nova Scotia) is a rower from Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from ...

- retired

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

, gold medalist, men's eights,

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

Rick Ravanello Rick Ravanello (born 24 October 1967) is a Canadian actor and ex-bodybuilder who has appeared in several television series and movies. Known primarily from action and thriller films, he often portrayed soldiers, military men and detectives. Bi ...

- actor *

Gordie Sampson Gordon Francis Sampson (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia. Beginning his career as a performer on his hometown island of Cape Breton, both in bands and on his own, Sampson has gone on t ...

- musician,

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning songwriter

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control High schools in Nova Scotia Schools in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Educational institutions established in 1950 1950 establishments in Nova Scotia