Westmount High School

This article is about the high school (secondary school) in Westmount, Quebec, Canada. For other highschools, see Westmount (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Westmount Secondary School.

Westmount High School
Address
4350 St. Catherine St. West Westmount , Quebec Canada
Coordinates	45.4833°N 73.5900°W / 45.4833; -73.5900
Information
School type	Advanced Placement, Public
Motto	dux vitæ ratio (reason is the guide of life)
Founded	1873; 151 years ago (1873)
School board	English Montreal School Board
Principal	Demetra Droutsas[1]
Grades	7–11
Enrollment	902 (2017)
Language	English
Area	Westmount
Colour(s)	Purple   White
Mascot	Knight
Team name	Westmount Knights
Website	westmount.emsb.qc.ca/whs
Last updated: July 12, 2024; 5 months ago (2024-07-12)

Logo

Westmount High School (French: École secondaire Westmount) is a public co-educational anglophone secondary school located in Westmount, Quebec, Canada, located near Alexis Nihon Complex Shopping Mall.

Westmount High is Quebec's first and only public school to offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses, because the AP program has been around Westmount High since 2003.^[2] They offer AP Calculus, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP French Language and Culture, and AP Psychology.^[3]

The school moved to its present location in 1961, after selling their former building to Selwyn House School.^[4]

Westmount is part of the English Montreal School Board^[1] and was formerly part of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal.^[5]

Despite being located in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Montreal, the school attracted a diverse mix of students from all neighbourhoods and racial backgrounds.^[6] A long-time teacher at the school noted that most wealthy families would send their children to private schools, so the school received mostly students from disadvantaged backgrounds.^[7]

Around January 2020, Westmount High School created "The Westmount Highlights", students and vice-principal YouTube channel initiative, in providing students weekly school news, fun facts, and entertainment.^[8]

Notable alumni

• Kamala Harris, Current Vice President of the United States^[9][10]
• Mona Elaine Adilman, poet
• George Alevisatos, retired CFL player
• Jesse Camacho, actor^[11]
• John E. Cleghorn, banker, chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University
• Leonard Cohen, poet, musician, writer^[12]
• Stockwell Day, Canadian politician (provincial and federal), former leader of the Canadian Alliance^[13]
• Vibert Douglas, astrophysicist
• Rebecca Elson, astronomer and poet
• Maya Harris, lawyer ^[13] and sister of Kamala Harris
• Jeremy Howick, Oxford philosopher and medical researcher^[14]
• Jeffrey Khaner, Principal Flutist, Philadelphia Orchestra, Flute Professor Juilliard School and Curtis Institute^{[citation needed]}
• Mary Jane Lamond, folk musician^{[citation needed]}
• David H. Levy, astronomer, discoverer of 22 comets^[15]
• MJ Long, first in class 1956, British architect, OBE, Yale professor.
• Mila Mulroney, wife of former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney^{[citation needed]}
• Alfred Powis, businessman^{[citation needed]}
• Johnny Peirson, professional ice hockey player and colour commentator
• Joanna Pettet actress^[16] Walter Winchell AP Oct 4 1962
• Art Ross, professional ice hockey player and executive early 20th century^[17]
• Claire Holden Rothman, novelist^[18]
• Marla Rubin, stage producer
• Moshe Safdie, class of '55, architect (famous for Montreal's Expo 67's "Habitat 67" apartment complex)^[19]
• Norma Shearer, actress^[20]
• A. J. M. Smith, poet^[21]
• Edgar William Richard Steacie, chemist, president 1952-62 of the National Research Council of Canada^[22]
• Caroline Vu, novelist and medical doctor^[23]
• Dwight Walton, retired basketball player, Concordia men's assistant coach
• Gordon Wasserman, class of '55 Rhodes Scholar Oxford University, appointed member of the UK House of Lords, 2011^{[citation needed]}
• Trevor C. Williams, retired basketball player, Dawson Division 1 Women's Coach
• Wayne Yearwood, retired basketball player, Dawson Men's Division 1 coach

References

1. Secondary School Search, English Montreal School Board, retrieved September 12, 2019
2. "Advanced Placement". westmount.emsb.qc.ca. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
3. "Advanced Placement". westmount.emsb.qc.ca. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
4. History of Westmount High School
5. "Schools". Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal. January 17, 1998. Archived from the original on May 24, 1998.
6. In Canada, Kamala Harris, a Disco-Dancing Teenager, Yearned for Home
7. Kamala Harris’s ‘Canadian Dream’
8. "Westmount High School - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
9. "Rising Democratic party star Kamala Harris has Montreal roots". CTV News. The Canadian Press. October 9, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
10. Dale, Daniel (December 29, 2018). "U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris's classmates from her Canadian high school cheer her potential run for president". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
11. Suburban, Mike Cohen The. ""Less Than Kind" Pandemic has actor Jesse Camacho under "Locke & Key"". The Suburban Newspaper. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
12. Nadel, Ira B. Various Position: A Life of Leonard Cohen. Pantheon Books: New York, 1996.
13. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris’s classmates from her Canadian high school cheer her potential run for president
14. "Kamala Harris: Montreal's Once Resident". Curiosity Shots. September 19, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
15. "David Levy: King of the comets (by Nicole Mortillaro - Global News - June 7, 2013)". Retrieved January 12, 2020.
16. Playbill Poor Richard
17. "Hockey Hall of Fame Spotlight One on One with Art Ross". www.hhof.com. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
18. "Ian McGillis: The revolution comes home". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
19. "Moshe Safdie - Interview by Jim Donaldson". Retrieved January 12, 2020.
20. Lambert, Gavin (1990). Norma Shearer: A Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-394-55158-6.
21. "University of Toronto Representative Poetry Online". rpo.library.utoronto.ca. University of Toronto. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
22. Marion, Léo. “Edgar William Richard Steacie. 1900-1962.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, vol. 10, 1964, pp. 257–281.
23. McGillis, Ian (July 11, 2015). "Shadow of War". Montreal Gazette.

External links

• Westmount High School
• Westmount High School at the Wayback Machine (archive index)