Selwyn House School

Selwyn House School (SHS) is a private independent boys' school located in Westmount, Quebec. Boys can attend from Kindergarten through to Grade 11. The school was founded in 1908 by Englishman Captain Algernon Lucas. The school is named in honour of Selwyn College, University of Cambridge, which Algernon Lucas attended.

For the collegiate institution at the University of Cambridge, see Selwyn College, Cambridge.
Selwyn House School
Address
95 chemin Côte St-Antoine

Westmount
,
Quebec
,
H3Y 2H8

Canada
Coordinates45.4862°N 73.5973°W / 45.4862; -73.5973
Information
School typeIndependent Boys
MottoVeritas (Latin for "Truth") and “We Know Boys”
Founded1908
School boardQAIS
HeadmasterMichael Downey
GradesK–11
Enrollment570 (2006-07)
LanguageEnglish
Colour(s)Black and Gold         
MascotGryphon
Team nameSelwyn House Gryphons
RivalsLower Canada College
Loyola High School
Tuition$19,880–$25,760[1]
Websitehttps://www.selwyn.ca/

Students are divided into four houses, which serve intramural athletics purposes within the primary school. The houses, named after the first four headmasters of the school, are Lucas (yellow), Macaulay (red), Wanstall (green) and Speirs (blue). The Selwyn House Gryphons have fielded strong athletic teams in recent decades[2] and their traditional rivals in sports are Lower Canada College and Loyola High School.

Despite charging one of the highest tuition fees in Quebec[3], Selwyn House also chooses to receive subsidies from the provincial government which is available to all private schools for Grade 7 to 11. This means all students in the secondary school section must have a certificate of eligibility allowing them to attend government-funded English schools in Quebec in accordance with Bill 101. The school will no longer take subsidies starting in September 2021.[4][5]

History

In 1908, the English-speaking elite of Montreal were in need of a suitable preparatory school, and British Captain Algernon Lucas was seeking a teaching career in Canada. A graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge University, he was given the job of educating seven boys. Within two years, the school had to move from Lucas' Crescent Street apartment to a larger house on Mackay Street. In 1912, Lucas turned to the business world and Colin Macaulay, who had been a classmate of Lucas at Selwyn College, replaced him as headmaster.

Selwyn House quickly grew in size and relocated two more times. Its aim was to provide a solid grounding in basic subjects, and to equip boys for the boarding schools from which they would proceed to university. The school was modeled after English preparatory schools,[6] and the staff was largely recruited from the United Kingdom. Under the leadership of Dr. Robert Speirs, headmaster from 1945 to 1971 and after whom the Speirs Medal is named, the reputation of the school grew significantly. In the 1940s, the students who attended the school were overwhelmingly Protestant with the notable exception of sons of the Bronfman family, who were Jewish.[7]

In 1985, William Mitchell became the headmaster. The school's needs and demands for added facilities reached a point where one building was no longer sufficient. When St. Andrew's United Church across the street closed, Selwyn House purchased and renovated it, and it is now known as the Macaulay Building. In 1999, the school underwent substantial renovations in its three main buildings on campus. In 2002, the school built the Speirs Building which housed a new double-sized gym, a spacious high-tech library, numerous classrooms, offices and an agora for student assemblies and various other functions. This was followed by a massive renovation of the original Lucas Building, including converting its gymnasium into a large, modern dining hall and fully equipped auditorium, dubbed Coristine Hall.

Jonathan Kay, who attended the school in the 1980s, describes the student body as being predominantly white and anglophone when he was a student there with only three students of Asian descent in his grade. He also mentions the constant racial bullying of his French Canadian classmate and notes that it was more difficult back then to be a francophone than a Jewish or visible minority student.[8][9] French has gradually been introduced to the school curriculum, and since 1999, elementary school students now spend 80 percent of the time learning in French from Kindergarten to Grade 2, and 50 percent from Grade 3 to 6.[10] According to Kay, the school no longer resembles the one he attended and is now fully bilingual and racially diverse.[9]

In January 2009, Hal Hannaford took over as the school's new headmaster after having previously served as the longtime headmaster of Royal St. George's College in Toronto.[11] In Winter 2010, Selwyn House completed renovations of the aging Macaulay Building.

In June 2020, Hanniford retired and was replaced by Mike Downey, who previously served as a teacher and coach at the school.[12]

Controversies

In September 2005, an alumnus of the school launched a lawsuit against Selwyn House claiming that he had been molested by a former teacher. Allegations regarding misconduct had been made in 1971, 1983, and again in 1991 when the school administration confronted the teacher. Soon after, the teacher killed his elderly father and then committed suicide.[13] As a result, no further action on the issue was taken by the school administration.[14]

Allegations that two other former teachers, including John Aimers, had also abused students were filed as part of a class action lawsuit on February 3, 2006.[15] The school agreed to a $5-M compensation fund in January 2009. The fund was approved by the Quebec Superior Court as a settlement for former students, their partners, and their parents.[16] The allegations claimed that various teachers, none of whom were still present at the school, committed sexual abuse of over 30 minors during the 1970s to early 1980s.[16]

Charity and fundraising

Selwyn House participates yearly in the Terry Fox Run, Shave to Save[17] and Movember.[18]

Notable people
Main article: List of Selwyn House School people

Sons of the Molson family have attended the school during every decade of Selwyn House's existence.[19] Many members of the Bronfman family also attended the school.[20]

  • The movie Prom Wars is based on Selwyn House. In the movie, Selby House battle Lancaster College (allegories for Selwyn House and Lower Canada College, respectively, historically "arch-rival" schools) over the right to take ACS (ECS) girls, the nearby girls school, to their respective proms.[21][22]
  • The school has been mentioned in Mordecai Richler's novel, Barney's Version.[23]
  • The school is part of the basis for Richler's Jacob Two-Two adventure series.[24] Richler's son Jacob was a student at Selwyn House.

Footnotes
  1. "Tuition And Bursaries". www.selwyn.ca. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  2. http://gmaa.ca/high_school_dir.htm
  3. "Quebec private schools willing to accept more challenged students". www.montrealgazette.com. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. "English Language Eligibility". www.selwyn.ca. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. "Private Schools". Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  6. "Selwyn House, Then and Now". National Post. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  7. "The invisible thread that unites all Jews". The Canadian Jewish News. 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  8. "Jonathan Kay: Canada is becoming a nation of 'Tiger Mothers'". National Post. 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  9. "Guilty Memories from an Anglo Montreal Childhood". The Walrus. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  10. "An Anglo cliché goes poof". Maclean's. 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  11. "Royal St. George's losing headmaster". The Globe and Mail. 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  12. Torch is passed at Selwyn House
  13. "Selwyn House ignored sex-abuse claim for 20 years: documents". Cbc.ca. 2008-08-07. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  14. 'I don't want to live with the memory of this all my life'
  15. "Quebec boys' school hit with legal bombshell". CTV Television Network. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  16. "Selwyn House agrees to $5M fund for alleged sex-abuse victims". CBC News. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  17. "Selwyn House Shave to Save". Virgin Radio. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  18. "Selwyn House Movember Team". Movember Canada. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  19. Selwyn House Founding Families: the Molsons
  20. School offers money to former students claiming abuse
  21. "Selwyn House School ~ Selwyn House coming to a theatre near you". Selwyn.ca. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  22. "Layout 1" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  23. Selwyn House School - Westmount Private Day School
  24. Selwyn House School - Westmount Private Day School
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.