Bishop's College School

Bishop's College School or BCS is an English-language non-profit independent boarding prep school in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada for students in Grades 7 to 12. Founded in 1836, BCS is the fifth oldest private school in Canada. BCS has the highest endowment per student of any independent school in Canada. Seven BCS people have been named Rhodes Scholars. A royal charter was granted in 1853 from Queen Victoria for Bishop's College when BCS was the constituent junior division. The school was recognized as the "Eton of Canada" initially by the first Governor General of Canada, Lord Monck on a visit in 1864. It locates at the heart the historic Eastern Townships and near New England. The school is recognized as a Quebec cultural heritage site in the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec. BCS was first known as the Lennoxville Classical School by the Rev. Lucius Doolittle (1800–1862) (M.A., Vermont) assisted by Edward Chapman (M.A., Cambridge). Traditionally, the school had catered to the sons of the Protestant elites in the United Empire Loyalist and the residents of the Montreal Golden Square Mile. A link to the Canadian Royal Family was maintained by King Edward VII, George V, George VI, Edward VIII, et alia whether during royal visits or whilst studying in Canada. In May 1989, The Duke of Edinburgh inspected BCS cadet corps and presented the school a new coats of arms. The BCS Cadet Corps #2 is the oldest continuous service corps in Canada – has been affiliated with the Black Watch. Over 120 alumni made the ultimate sacrifice in the First and Second World War. King's Hall Compton, or KHC, its sister school, was founded in 1874 where heads of BCS such as James Williams (bishop) acted as the first chairman. In 1972, the two institutions merged making it one of the first co-ed independent schools in Canada. In 1995, Nancy Layton was appointed as Head of School, which made BCS the first co-ed independent school with a female headmaster in Canada. The School's former faculty was also responsible for the founding of Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario in 1865, and Ashbury College as an affiliated institute in 1891 to accommodate BCS Ottawa-based students. BCS raised six Canadian independent schools in total, making it once known as the "school of the headmasters" during the early 20th century. "Bishop" in the school's name derives from one of its founders, the Lord Bishop of Québec, The Right Reverend Dr.