St. George's School (Vancouver)

St. George's School (informally: Saints) is an independent boarding and day university-preparatory school for boys, founded in 1930 in Vancouver, British Columbia.[2]

St. George's School
Address
4175 West 29th Avenue

Vancouver
,
British Columbia
,
V6S 1V1

Canada
Coordinates49°14′48.34″N 123°11′56.76″W
Information
School typeIndependent all-boys
Motto"Sine Timore Aut Favore"
(Without Fear or Favour)
Founded1930
HeadmasterDr. Tom Matthews
PrincipalGary Kern (Senior School)
PrincipalStephen Sturgeon (Junior School)
Grades1-12
Enrollment1,151
LanguageEnglish
Colour(s)Red, Black, and White             
MascotSt. George / the Dragon
Team nameSaints / Knights / Dragons
Endowment$21,500,832 as of June 30, 2016[1]
Websitewww.stgeorges.bc.ca

History
St. George's Junior School

St. George's was founded in 1930 by a group of Englishmen recently arrived in British Columbia. Captain John Harker, serving from 1943 to 1962, was its second and one of the most influential headmasters of St. George's School.[3]

The original school operated out of a large country manor house. It has since expanded dramatically, and the school now maintains two campuses; the Senior School, on land leased from UBC in 1925, and the Junior School, converted from the former Convent of the Sacred Heart, a historic property purchased in 1979, which had formerly served as a Catholic all-girls school. The school continues to expand to this day, the most recent updates being the renovation of the Junior School Campus. Currently, there is a campus "masterplan" set which includes the demolition of the current Senior School Building and creating a completely redesigned Senior campus.

Students

The student body at St. George's comprises 1,151 boys from 22 countries, with approximately 750 boys in the Senior School and the remainder in the Junior School. As of June 2016, 109 students were boarding students.[4] Like other independent schools, it maintains a system of prefects and mandates the wearing of uniforms. School Captain and other prefects are elected by the faculty and their fellow students to provide student leaders with the School. Past School Captains and other prefects have included Rhodes Scholars, diplomats, prominent lawyers and businessmen, and professional athletes. The uniform, as is frequently the case in similar Canadian schools, includes an emblazoned blazer, grey flannels, and the wearing of the appropriate school tie. The school ties vary depending on extracurricular achievement and on grade. Students in grades 1–6 wear a striped red, white, and black tie, students in grade 7 wear a blue one, those in grades 8–11 wear a darker blue one with the school's crest on it, and those in grade 12 wear a red tie. Those who have attended since Grade 1 are called "Lifers".

Academics

St. George's School emphasizes academic performance as well as the building of moral character, and the formation of strong, upstanding traits. The school offers a variety of academic options that include enriched and advanced-placement classes. Advanced Placement courses from the College Board are generally offered starting in 11th Grade. In the 2016-2017 school year, senior school students wrote 357 AP Exams, and 159 students wrote at least one exam.[4] Its boys participate in many regional, national, and international academic contests, in mathematics, the sciences, and in the humanities and social sciences.[4] Here is a list of Advanced Placement courses offered at St. George's School:

List of Advanced Placement Courses offered at St. George's School[5]
AP French Language and Culture
AP Chinese Language and Culture
AP English Literature and Composition
AP English Language and Composition
AP Japanese
AP Latin
AP Spanish
AP Calculus BC
AP Calculus AB
AP Statistics
AP Music
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Environmental Science
AP Physics 1
AP Physics 2
AP Art History
AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP Human Geography
AP Psychology
AP United States History
AP European History
AP Computer Science A

University placement

St. George's School frequently places its graduates in universities in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Of its 155 students in the 2017 graduating class, virtually all of its students enter post-secondary education. In 2016, St. George's School students received $1.5 million in merit-based scholarships, received 720 offers from 140 universities, including 10 offers from US Ivy League universities. About 100 of students chose a university in Canada, around 40 attend American universities, and 5 students attended university overseas. The most popular universities for students were the University of British Columbia, Queen's University, and the University of Toronto.[4]

Athletics
Senior School Campus

Sports is a major part of the student experience at St. George's School. Approximately 80% of students play in a competitive team.[6] To encourage students to live a healthy life and build character, the school mandates that its boys select a recreational or competitive sport starting from Grade 8. Boys in Grades 11-12 may opt out for one term based on past games attendance.[7] St George's sports teams have done extremely well in the last decades, especially with the high quantity and often quality of athleticism and high level of competency in the coaching staff. St. George's has a wide variety of sports teams, including:

Outdoor education

There is also a mandatory outdoor education program implemented for students from grades 1-10. Students are required to participate in outdoor educational programs both in the junior school and the senior school. These activities range from half day trips (grade 1) to full, week-long excursions (grade 10). The junior experiences focus on an education aspect: students learn about First Nations peoples and about the environment. The senior trips involve more personal-based learning; activities in the wilderness such as hiking, kayaking and canoeing focus on leadership and interpersonal skills. There is also a focus on environmental care and education. In grade 10, students have the option of applying for the 'Discovery 10' cohort program. This program is limited to 20 students who participate in a modified Social Studies and PE program, focusing on First Nations history, environmental studies, and outdoor leadership. The students spend approximately 55 days of each school year out of class on outdoor-education trips (hiking, canoeing, kayaking, rock-climbing).

Clubs and activities
Great Hall

The school offers a variety of extra-curricular clubs:[8]

Students publish a school yearbook—the Georgian, a magazine—the Saint, as well as a literary and artistic journal—the Opus. There are also various student-organized events such as music nights, socials, and mixers with sister schools Crofton House and York House.

Notable alumni
Year of graduation Name Description Ref.
1947 Peter Bentley Past president and CEO and current chairman of Canfor, past director and current honorary director of the Bank of Montreal, member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, chairman of Sierra Mountain Minerals, a director of the Vancouver General Hospital and University of British Columbia Hospital Foundation, past chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia [9]
1960s Patrick Moore A founding member of Greenpeace and former president of Greenpeace Canada[10]
1972 Peter Lam Chairman of the Lai Sun Group and Media Asia Entertainment Group. Deputy chair of Lai Sun Garments and executive director of eSun Holdings and Crocodile Garments.[11]
1976 Arthur Griffiths Former assistant to the chairman of the Vancouver Canucks. Owner of the Vancouver Canucks from 1988 to 1997. Led the initiative to build GM Place. Helped Vancouver secure the 2010 Winter Olympics bid.
1976 John Weston Former member of Parliament for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country[12]
1977 Alan Best Canadian filmmaker
1999 David Carter Canadian field hockey Olympian
2000 Jay Malinowski Lead singer and co-founder of the reggae-pop band Bedouin Soundclash
2002 Donovan Tildesley Canadian Paralympic swimmer and flagbearer at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China
2004 Michael Wilkinson Attended the London 2012 Summer Olympics as a rower for team Canada, participating in the men's four boat class
2007 Conor Trainor Canadian professional rugby player. Part of the Canada national rugby union team at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he became the first Canadian rugby player to score 2 tries against the New Zealand All Blacks.
NA Tablo Lee Seon-woong, also known as Tablo (Hangul: 타블로), a South Korean-born Canadian rapper, record producer, songwriter, author, and entrepreneur
NA Nicholas Tse Nicholas Tse (Tse Ting-fung), Chinese: 謝霆鋒, (born 29 August 1980), a Hong Kong actor, singer, songwriter, musician, entrepreneur, martial artist, and chef
gollark: Functional, mostly>
gollark: Primarily that it encourages !!MUTABLE STATE!!, and *inheritance*.
gollark: I dislike at least most of OOP for reasons.
gollark: I dislike it. It must be apiodeleted. I never use it.
gollark: Although, JS *does* have `void`.

References
  1. "2015-2016 St. George's School Endowment Report" (PDF).
  2. "St. George's School | History". www.stgeorges.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  3. "Biography of Mr. John Harker". St. George's School. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  4. "St. George's School 2016-2017 Report Card" (PDF).
  5. "Courses at St. George's School". Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  6. "Athletics at St. George's School".
  7. "Games Program at St. George's School".
  8. "St. George's School - Clubs". www.stgeorges.bc.ca.
  9. "Mr. Peter Bentley '47". St. George's School. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  10. Zelko, Frank (30 May 2013). "Make It a Green Peace!: The Rise of a Countercultural Environmentalism". OUP USA – via Google Books.
  11. http://www.stgeorges.bc.ca/Page/CONNECT/Georgians/The-Georgian-Honours
  12. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=45cbc920-725e-4eea-a998-f319dd67bb37

Notes
  • The junior school campus (Convent of the Sacred Heart) is a heritage site.
  • St. George's "sister" schools are York House School in Vancouver BC, St. Margaret's School in Victoria BC and Crofton House School, also in Vancouver.
  • The school has a rivalry with Vancouver College; for example, the Saints' and VC rowing crews compete annually in a regatta in April, the "Saints College Boat Race".
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