- Montreal West High School
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For schools of a similar name, see West High School (disambiguation).
Montreal West High School was a school located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
It originally opened as the Aberdeen School of Coteau Saint-Pierre, or Aberdeen School, in a two story school erected in 1894 that housed two hundred students on Easton Avenue in Montreal West. The school was often used for social functions, public meetings, and council meetings until the Montreal West Town Hall was built in 1910. The name of the school was changed twice, first to Aberdeen Model School, and then to Montreal West High School in 1921.
In the 1930s, there was a sharp increase in the school's population. The school was becoming too crowded and it was decided it was unsafe to house such a large number of students. It was confirmed in 1930 that the school would have to be demolished, beginning on May 7, 1931. This began on May 7, 1931. The cornerstone for a larger, more permanent building was laid on January 9, 1932, followed by the formal opening ceremony for the new school.
In the early 1980s, declining student enrollment signaled the imminent closure of Montreal West High School, as well as Royal Vale High School, which shared the same building. In 1982, students, parents, teachers, and administrators put forth a proposal to the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal (PSGBM), which was precursor to the English Montreal School Board. The proposal called for an "alternative" high school offering programs similar to those of a private school. Limited enrollment, strict discipline, a dress code, fluency in English and French, computer literacy and compulsory extra-curricular activities were to be focal points for the curriculum. The School Board would fund the alternative school, but the School Committee had to raise money through donations and events (such as a raffle to equip two new computer laboratories).
On January 26, 1983, the School Board accepted the proposal for the alternative school. Montreal West High School and Royal Vale High School were replaced in September 1983 by Royal West Academy. Most existing staff and students of both schools remained in the merged school.
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Categories:- Anglophone schools in Quebec
- High schools in Montreal
- Educational institutions established in 1894
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