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until occupied by the high school. By 1882 the high school included 80 students and was situated between the primary girls' school in the east wing and the primary boys' school in the west wing. The high school remained pressed between the boys' and girls' central schools until 1903. Victoria's growing population in the 1890s led to
Victoria High School being described as "one of the most inadequate school buildings in the Province" by the principal Edward Paul. In 1902, a third Victoria High School was opened, which was also quickly outstripped by Victoria's burgeoning population. This facility was designed by
425:, the former Deputy Minister of Education, the then-current provincial Director of Industrial and Technical Education and also the Regional Director of the Canadian Vocational Training Program. Fairey Tech immediately became a focal point for technical education in Victoria and beyond, both for daytime and evening adult education classes. Additions were made to the facility In the 1950s, including a much larger auto-shop complex and an electronics shop and classroom. Later renamed the
311:
417:. The facilities were built to the west of the playfield by trainee soldiers with assistance from Vic High students. Trades such as carpentry, bricklaying, and metalwork were taught. In September 1949, classes began in new Industrial Arts facilities, which had been added onto the south end of the wartime building to provide shops for electrical, automotive, sheet metal, welding and woodwork plus classrooms and drafting rooms. The enlarged facility was named the
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405:. After the Second World War a large flag (four stories high) was commissioned. It had blue and red maple leaves on it, each representing a student or staff member who died in the war, respectively. It was then lost until 2005, when it was found in the school's basement. For Remembrance Day it was hung from the school's fourth floor.
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The school has two gymnasiums, one of which is from 1914 and is notable for having a wooden running track suspended 20 feet above its floor. There is a rifle range in the attic, and there is an old tradition that the graduating students sign their names there. There are three large underground floors
326:
The current
Victoria High School, the fourth to bear its name, was opened on May 1, 1914, on 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of land, donated by the City of Victoria, on Grant Street between Fernwood and Camosun Streets. Designed by C. Elwood Watkins, School Architect for the Victoria Board of Education, the
389:
The foundations of the school are made of impressively heavy 4-foot-square blocks of granite. The building has two ornate facades, including some very large windows which offer prime views of downtown
Victoria and the Fernwood neighbourhood. The building is U-shaped, with a large auditorium inside
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building. This same cabin had been the first common (or public) school in
British Columbia when it was used as a primary school starting in 1853. In 1882, the high school moved to a new wing of a brick building that had been built in 1875–1876 and had been used exclusively as the primary school
441:
The
Government of B.C. provided $ 77.1 million for seismic upgrades and a 200-seat expansion of Victoria High to keep students safe and ensure they are not attending an overcrowded school. Construction on the upgrades and expansion at Vic High began in August 2020. Students were re-located to a
330:
The
Rattenbury-designed school was demolished in 1953 and in 1954 a new Central Junior High School building was constructed. The school was later known as Central Junior Secondary (grades 7 and 8) and as of 2002 currently as a middle school offering French immersion (grades 6–8).
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Vic High hosts an active weather station as part of the School-Based
Weather Station Network, operated as a partnership between the University of Victoria and several school districts to provide state of the art interactive technologies as part of the school's science program.
334:
Peter L. Smith, himself a graduate of
Victoria High School and son of Henry Lawson Smith, longtime principal of Vic High (1934–1955), wrote a history of the school to mark its centennial celebrations in 1976:
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The high school opened on August 7, 1876, in a log cabin with two classrooms on the school reserve between Yates Street and Fort Street bounded by
Fernwood Road, the grounds of the current
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429:, in addition to previous disciplines it also housed classes for industrial design, art metal and jewelry, and even dance. The facility was closed in 2011 and replaced with the
365:) started as an annex to the high school on the Fort Street site. During 1914–15 Victoria College was located on the top floor of the new Grant Street building. When the
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renovated SJ Willis while the project was underway. Students returned to the 1914 campus on April 5th 2024 after extensive refits, additions and delays in construction.
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The current school building, which was designed in 1911 and opened in 1914, has been listed on the City of
Victoria's Heritage Registry since 1982.
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Athletic accomplishments: 2016–17 AAA Sr Boys Basketball South Island Champions, 2017–18 AAA Sr Girls Volleyball South Island Champions
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the U. Additions to the school have turned the spaces between the auditorium and the rest of the building into inaccessible courtyards.
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Vic High offers a fine arts program, including theatre, music, and dance. There was a neighbourhood choir and a Rhythm and Blues Band
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program, functioning as a pathway school for both late immersion and some early immersion students from Central Middle School.
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Black and White, An Intimate Multicultural Perspective on "White Advantage" and the Paths to Change (Nimbus Publishing 2022
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278:, Canada. It is the oldest public high school west of Winnipeg, Manitoba and north of San Francisco, California.
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Technical education shops were first opened at Vic High in 1943 as part of the training effort for the
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John J. Ellis with Charles Lillard, The Fernwood Files, Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, p. 57
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school cost slightly more than $ 460,000. The high school's first principal was S. J. Willis.
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opened in 1915, Victoria College suspended operation until 1920 when it reopened at nearby
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Victoria News, "Education minister opens Vic High's new trades building", November 4, 2011
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When the province renamed all its high schools "secondary school", Victoria High School,
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1137:"Victoria High: Planning for the Future - The Greater Victoria School District No. 61"
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Totems, Tigers, Titans, Tsunamis, Tsasquatches, Tyees, Tikis, Tigers, Thunderbirds
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1028:"Watkins, Charles Elwood | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada"
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The following athletic programs were offered as of the 2017–2018 school year:
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Victoria High School Alumni News Bulletin Spring 2011, retrieved 2012-03-12
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712: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
558: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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There are two war memorials in the school's main entrance, one for the
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were the only schools to retain "high school" as part of their names.
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Intramural programs: basketball, indoor soccer and ring hockey
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Dr. Wallace Chung, respected medical researcher and innovator
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Come Give a Cheer: One Hundred Years of Victoria High School.
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Torchy & Doug Peden, internationally acclaimed cyclists
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Dr. A.J. Stewart Smith, world-renowned particle physicist
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Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique
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Dr. Maria Tippett, leading Canadian cultural historian
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Vic High (Fernwood Avenue side, from the northeast)
860:Jack Shadbolt, world-renowned contemporary artist
511:The current athletic director is Erin Finlayson.
16:High school in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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839:Dr. Norma Mickelson, OBC, OC, renowned educator
845:Jim Taylor, nationally acclaimed sports writer
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869:Sam Dunn, award-winning documentary filmmaker
866:Jessica Monroe-Gonin, Olympic rowing medalist
863:Carol Sabiston, world-renowned textile artist
305:The Empress Hotel (or Fairmont Empress Hotel)
1397:Educational institutions established in 1876
1124:BC Government News release, November 4, 2011
721:"Victoria High School" British Columbia
567:"Victoria High School" British Columbia
857:Richard Hunt, renowned First Nations artist
854:David Day, internationally acclaimed author
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1392:High schools in Victoria, British Columbia
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772:Learn how and when to remove this message
618:Learn how and when to remove this message
875:, internationally acclaimed rugby player
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309:
1402:1876 establishments in British Columbia
1160:School District French Language Options
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1231:Victoria Times-Colonist, June 2, 2011
1196:Vic High Sports and Athletics webpage
1041:Central Middle School history webpage
301:British Columbia Parliament Buildings
264:École Secondaire Victoria High School
22:École Secondaire Victoria High School
1208:School-Based Weather Station Network
710:adding citations to reliable sources
681:
556:adding citations to reliable sources
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1310:School District 61 Greater Victoria
1065:City of Victoria Heritage Inventory
950:School District 61 Greater Victoria
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149:School District 61 Greater Victoria
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821:, Canadian cabinet minister and MP
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314:Vic High (main entry, from south)
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911:, renowned historian and author
697:needs additional citations for
646:J.D. (Duncan) Lorimer 1965–1979
543:needs additional citations for
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394:for storage and boiler rooms.
367:University of British Columbia
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1184:Vic High R&B Band webpage
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809:, premier of British Columbia
803:, premier of British Columbia
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1077:Victoria Heritage Foundation
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1252:Vic High Alumni Association
1172:Neighbourhood choir webpage
946:"School Enrollment Numbers"
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1100:Village Vibe December 2011
486:Rugby (Girls and Boys 7's)
419:F.T. Fairey Technical Unit
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276:Victoria, British Columbia
266:, commonly referred to as
132:(No reward without effort)
1357:
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667:Stephen Bennett 2006–2010
661:Dennis Harrigan 1994–2002
658:Keith McCallion 1989–1994
431:Fairey Technical Building
293:Francis Mawson Rattenbury
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1257:Vic High Alumni Archives
1053:Victoria College history
1006:Victoria College history
637:Henry L. Smith 1934–1955
1008:, retrieved 2012-03-10.
664:Keith Forshaw 2002–2006
655:David Watkins 1985–1989
427:Fairey Technical Centre
1233:, retrieved 2012-03-03
1210:, retrieved 2012-03-10
1198:, retrieved 2012-03-10
1186:, retrieved 2012-03-04
1174:, retrieved 2012-03-04
1162:, retrieved 2012-03-03
1126:, retrieved 2012-03-10
1114:; retrieved 2012-03-10
1102:, retrieved 2012-03-10
1079:, retrieved 2012-03-04
1067:, retrieved 2012-03-04
1055:, retrieved 2012-03-04
1043:, retrieved 2012-03-10
917:, editorial cartoonist
634:Ira Dilworth 1926–1934
363:University of Victoria
361:(the precursor to the
323:
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128:Palma non sine pulvere
127:
1297:Secondary schools in
807:Byron Ingemar Johnson
652:Bill (William) Garner
480:Cross-country running
347:Esquimalt High School
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288:Central Middle School
1371:École Victor-Brodeur
1247:Victoria High School
833:, medical missionary
790:Hollywood Wax Museum
706:improve this article
552:improve this article
501:Weight room training
401:and another for the
192:845 (2019–2020)
88:48.4290°N 123.3470°W
827:, mayor of Victoria
801:Simon Fraser Tolmie
670:Randi Falls 2010–17
649:Jack (John) Lowther
371:Craigdarroch Castle
343:Oak Bay High School
84: /
1262:School Report Card
891:Mohammed Elewonibi
673:Aaron Parker 2017–
450:Vic High offers a
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953:. Retrieved
940:
885:Michiel Horn
786:Spoony Singh
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704:Please help
699:verification
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631:S. J. Willis
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550:Please help
545:verification
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263:
262:
145:School board
1358:Francophone
797:, architect
409:Fairey Tech
274:located in
272:high school
117:high school
109:School type
104:Information
91: /
79:123°20′49″W
66:Coordinates
1386:Categories
1306:Anglophone
1146:2024-01-02
932:References
923:, author,
915:Sid Barron
879:Mark Wyatt
813:Emily Carr
732:newspapers
578:newspapers
498:Volleyball
477:Basketball
377:Facilities
189:Enrollment
76:48°25′44″N
1319:Esquimalt
825:Alan Lowe
474:Badminton
466:Athletics
458:Fine arts
357:In 1903,
297:architect
236:Team name
205:Colour(s)
163:Principal
1349:Victoria
1344:Spectrum
1339:Reynolds
955:June 22,
905:, artist
899:, lawyer
815:, artist
640:H.D. Dee
608:May 2024
492:Swimming
268:Vic High
42:Victoria
1334:Oak Bay
746:scholar
592:scholar
299:of the
282:History
270:, is a
249:vichigh
244:Website
227:
224:
221:
218:
215:
212:
158:6161018
137:Founded
54:V8T 1C2
27:Address
748:
741:
734:
727:
719:
594:
587:
580:
573:
565:
489:Soccer
483:Rowing
421:after
345:, and
197:Campus
180:Grades
113:Public
59:Canada
753:JSTOR
739:books
599:JSTOR
585:books
251:.sd61
200:Urban
171:Staff
123:Motto
957:2021
725:news
571:news
303:and
184:9–12
140:1876
708:by
554:by
255:.ca
253:.bc
1388::
1139:.
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373:.
307:.
295:,
174:60
115:,
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