From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia West Point Grey Academy
West Point Grey Academy
West Point Grey Academy is an independent, co-educa-
tional, university-preparatory school founded in 1996.
History
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It deliv- Established in 1996 and located in Vancouver, WPGA of-
ers the British Columbia Ministry of Education curricu- fers a broad range of programmes and classes extending
lum from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12. from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12. WPGA is about peo-
West Point Grey Academy ple, academics, community, and individual growth. The
school offers a rigorous curriculum built on a foundation
of self-confidence and achievement.
Mission statement
In the 2004/2005 school year WPGA completed an acade-
mic advancement plan and launched a new mission state-
ment: "At West Point Grey Academy we are a community of Re-
naissance learners. By igniting the spirit of inquiry, creativity,
and exploration, we challenge our students to develop a passion
for excellence." This educational philosophy is in addition
to the school’s motto - Progredimini Confidenter: Go Forth
With Confidence - and stresses a four pillar approach to ed-
ucation: academics, athletics, fine and performing arts,
"Progredimini Confidenter"
Go Forth with Confidence
and community service.
Address
Athletics
4125 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia, V6R 4P9, Canada All students from Pre-K to grade 12 are enrolled in Physi-
cal Education classes. The WPGA campus features a large
Coordinates 49°14′50.34″N 123°12′1.07″W / 49.2473167°N
double gymnasium, pool, fitness centre, tennis courts,
123.2002972°W / 49.2473167; -123.2002972
(West Point Grey Academy)Coordinates: and multi-sport fields. Main sports include soccer, bas-
49°14′50.34″N 123°12′1.07″W / 49.2473167°N ketball, volleyball, cross-country swimming and track
123.2002972°W / 49.2473167; -123.2002972 and field.
(West Point Grey Academy) WPGA fields a variety of athletic teams from grade 5
Information through grade 12 competing as members of the Canadi-
an Association of Independent Schools. School teams al-
Religious None so compete in local city and independent school leagues
affiliation
and are also registered in the ’A’ division of the BC School
Headmaster Clive Austin Sports Provincial Championships.
WPGA is currently home to the BC Elementary
School type Independent
Schools Track and Field Champions.
Grades PreK-12 WPGA won their first high school provincial champi-
Language English onship banner in fall 2010 with their varsity girls cross-
country team capturing the ’AAA’ BC High-School Cross-
Mascot Wolf, Wally the Country Championships title.[1]
Team name Grey Wolves WPGA is now working with Strength & Conditioning
coach Jonathan Lerner to improve the fitness level of the
Colours Green, navy blue, black
students currently attending West Point Grey Academy.
Founded 1996
Enrolment 930 Fine and Performing Arts
Homepage http://www.wpga.ca West Point Grey Academy’s Fine and Performing Arts fac-
ulty is hosted in a dedicated Arts Wing (made up of sever-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia West Point Grey Academy
al visual arts studios, a ceramics room, band room, choir England, Greece, Germany, South Africa, and South
room, recording studio, and wood-shop). Korea. Of particularly notable acclaim, WPGA debate
Since 1997 the school’s drama program has annually alumnus Andrew Rusk placed fifth at the World Individ-
produced a large scale production with ticket sales open ual Public Speaking Championships in both 2006 & 2007,
to the Greater Vancouver community. In 2005 the school was the top Canadian Speaker at the International Inde-
produced its first musical, The Sound of Music, and has pendent School Public Speaking Championships in both
since strived to produce a musical every other year. In 2005 & 2006, and was the team Captain of the Canadian
2007 it put on The Wizard of Oz at the Richmond Gateway National Team in the 2006/2007 school year. Iqbal Kas-
Theatre. The department put on Jane Austen’s Pride and sam (’10) is the second WPGA student selected to the Na-
Prejudice as adapted for the stage in 2009 with a produc- tional team and was Team Canada’s top speaker at the
tion of Anne of Green Gables in 2010. The most recent 2009 World Schools Debate Championships. Kassam re-
production is the musical, Beauty and the Beast coming cently won the Parliamentary debates at the Worlds Indi-
in 2011. vidual Speech and Debates (Reading, England). Jonathan
The school’s band and strings program is quickly Carson (’10) was the third WPGA student selected to the
growing, regularly performing in the community. In National team, joining his partner on the 2010 team.
April 2007 the school’s concert band and choirs under- West Point Grey is currently home to the Senior
took their first international band trip to Disneyland in Canadian National High School Champions three years
Anaheim, California. running (Sean Husband & Helenaz Hajifattahi, 2008; Iqbal
Every May the school hosts a week long celebration Kassam & Jonny Carson, 2009, 2010).
of the arts. During this week, classes are shortened to al- The school’s Model UN team has competed at a num-
low for artistic workshops and guest artists to give pre- ber of international competitions including the National
sentations. The evenings also feature large scale musical High School MUN (New York), Harvard Model UN (Bos-
productions, including Coffee House Night and Cabaret ton), SSUNS McGill and Harvard Model Congress in
Night. Athens, Greece and Brussels, Belgium. In addition to re-
ceiving a number of delegate awards, the team has also
Community service received notable acclamation as the Top International
Delegation at the Harvard Model United Nations in both
The school and its student body continually stress the 2005 and 2006 and McGill’s SSUNS in 2008. The school’s
importance of community stewardship. The school hosts Model UN program has hosted their own conference, -
groups which regularly volunteer at the Union Gospel the Vancouver Youth Model United Nations (VYMUN) -
Mission as well as other local community based initia- every October for the past four years.
tives. In March 2006, six students and two teachers joined
a Canadian team to travel to Tanzania to summit Mount
Kilimanjaro in order to raise funds for the Stephen Lewis
Media Attention
Foundation. They worked to generate HIV/AIDS Aware- In 2007 WPGA gained media attention when students ac-
ness in schools around the Lower Mainland, and suc- cessed mid year exams. Forensic experts were hired to
ceeded in raising over $40,000 for charity. West Point determine how the security breach occurred. Three stu-
Grey Academy was also responsible for reinstating the dents who were allegedly involved were expelled over
Vancouver Independent Schools’ Charity Ball in February the incident. However, only one of the expelled students
2005, and in July 2007 successfully completed a school- actually had any involvement with the theft.[2]
building service trip to Ecuador. During the 2006-2007 WPGA also received attention for the shooting deaths
school year, a number of WPGA students collaborated to of two parents on separate occasions, with Macleans run-
plan, organize, and run Urban Aid, a benefit concert to ning an editorial on the controversy surrounding the sec-
raise money for Covenant House Vancouver. The concert ond death. [3]
showcased a number of Vancouver independent groups
and artists, and was attended by over 300 high school stu-
dents from around the Lower Mainland. The event raised
References
over $5,000 for charity. [1] [1], the province, 2010-11-07. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
[2] Steffenhagen, Janet. "Top B.C. school expels 3 in
exam scandal", The Vancouver Sun, 2007-02-24.
Debate and public speaking Retrieved on 2008-10-29.
West Point Grey Academy is renowned for having one [3] [2], Macleans, 2009-05-21. Retrieved on 2009-8-22.
of the strongest speech and debate programs in Canada.
Coached by Ms. Tracey Lee, who is currently the Canadi-
an National Debate (Team Canada) coach, WPGA debaters
External links
have competed throughout Canada, the United States, • Official site
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia West Point Grey Academy
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Point_Grey_Academy"
Categories: High schools in Vancouver, Elementary schools in Vancouver, Private schools in British Columbia, Educa-
tional institutions established in 1996
This page was last modified on 10 July 2011 at 03:50. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Mobile View
3