Western Canada High School

Western Canada High School is a public high school in Calgary, Alberta that has operated since 1929. The high school was antedated by Western Canada College, a boys' preparatory school in the style of a British public school that opened in 1903. The College existed until the end of the 1926 academic year when it closed due to financial problems. The Calgary Board of Education purchased the property that year, and by September 1929 completed a group of new school buildings on the site. From 1929 to 1935 academic and technical schools operated independently on the Western property, until which time they merged under a single administration. Western Canada is one of Calgary's oldest and most prestigious educational institutions. Given its proximity to the historic upper-class neighbourhoods of Mount Royal, Elbow Park, Roxboro, and Rideau Park, it has long been associated with the city's élite and establishment. Western Canada graduates have gone on to prolific careers in politics, law, sport, and the arts. History Western Canada College The inspiration to build an advanced school in the then North-West Territories (NWT) came from James Chalmers Herdman (1855–1910), a Scottish Presbyterian minister. In 1902, Herdman had been appointed superintendent for the missions in British Columbia and the Territory. During his travels, he heard repeatedly from settlers about the inadequacy of educational institutions in the west. Herdman repeated his findings to friends in Calgary, and soon a sub-committee of the Calgary Presbytery was struck to investigate the creation of a new school. The sub-committee consisted of Herdman, James Muir, James Short, C. A. Stuart, and W. McDavidson. In April 1903, the committee reported that the recommended name for the school be "Western Canada College." Although the school was founded under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church, it was decided that it would be non-denominational. On 19 June 1903, An Ordinance to Incorporate "Western Canada College" received assent in the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories.