St. George's School of Montreal

St. George's School of Montreal is a private school in Montreal, Canada which was founded in 1930. It consists of 2 campuses: the Elementary School campus in Westmount, Quebec, and the High School campus in Montreal. The school is a co-educational, non-denominational day school, where students do not wear school uniforms.

St. George’s was founded in 1930 by a small group of parents who, inspired by the movement for progressive education, rejected the authoritarian ways associated with conventional education. They believed that learning should be a natural and enjoyable activity related to the developmental stages and needs of the child.

St. George's School of Montreal is a member of The Quebec Association of Independent Schools (QAIS), The Canadian Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), and The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

The Six Founding Principles

The school has six founding principles:

• Health must come first
• Learning comes from doing
• The classroom should be freed from unnatural restraints
• Adapt education to the differences of the individual child
• Group-consciousness and social-mindedness should be developed
• The child should have abundant opportunity for creative expression

Mission Statement

The school states its mission is to educate its students to:

• Achieve academic excellence
• Develop a capacity for critical thought and problem-solving
• Pursue life-long learning
• Realize their creative potential
• Encourage their personal growth
• Become responsible world citizens

School Philosophy

"St. George's School of Montreal is a co-educational, non-denominational school committed to providing a student-centred education of the highest quality within a spirited, engaging, creative and cooperative environment. Our philosophy encourages an individualized and flexible approach to learning and to teaching, while challenging each student to excel. We believe in learning by doing. The St. George's community of students, parents, faculty and staff is dedicated to offering a caring and inclusive milieu that balances the importance of self-expression with the rights of others."

Technology

As of 2006, every student at St. George's High School has been required to lease a laptop through the school, as part of a technology initiative. Technology is emphasized on both campuses of St. George's School and is an integral part of the school's curriculum. The school has an intranet using FirstClass software which is used to channel both internal and external communications, including classroom conferences, online homework posting and submission, and bulletins for parents.

St George's has a "tech team" to support the use of technnology in the school. At the senior level, courses in Visual Basic, Java, .NET and Python are available. St George's is the only Montreal high school certified as a member of the MSDNAA.

Notable alumni

• Melissa Altro, voice actress for Arthur
• Dov Charney, founder and CEO of American Apparel
• James DiSalvio, of Bran Van 3000
• Corey Hart, pop musician
• Jaclyn Linetsky, actress (Class of 2003)
• Lindsay Robins, pop rock musician
• Naomi Klein, journalist, author and activist

Board Mandates

The following is a list of board mandates of the school:

• Buildings & Grounds
• Development
• Education
• PAC
• Finance School Policies
• Environment
• Extracurricular Activities
• Respectful Environment

The Food

St.George's has a in-house kitchen run by Greek chef Dora Floros. A sample menu is listed below:

• Monday - Gemelli pasta with rosé or bolognese sauce
• Tuesday - Chicken or vegetable fajitas with corn salsa
• Wednesday - Pizza
• Thursday - Jamaican beef or vegetable patties
• Friday - Tri-color fusilli with rosé or tomato sauce

Each meal is accompanied by a vegetarian alternative if the main course contains meat. Sandwiches are also available every day for students not interested in the dish being served.

External links

• St. George's School of Montreal website