Royal West Academy

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Royal West Academy
Address
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
189 Easton Ave

Montreal West
,
Quebec

Canada
Coordinates45°27′00″N 73°38′36″W / 45.4500°N 73.6432°W / 45.4500; -73.6432
Information
School typeSecondary school
MottoCarpe diem
School boardEnglish Montreal School Board
Grades7–11
Enrollment851
LanguageEnglish
Colour(s)Blue, Burgundy, White and Grey     
Websitewww.royalwestacademy.com

Royal West Academy (commonly referred to as Royal West or RWA; French: Académie Royal West) is a public alternative anglophone secondary school in Montreal, Quebec. Royal West has limited enrollment, and prospective students are only admitted after an entrance examination and interview. It is situated on Easton Avenue in Montreal West, but its students come from all parts of the Greater Montreal Area. Royal West Academy is part of the English Montreal School Board (EMSB).

The EMSB allows Royal West to choose the first 180 students who score the highest points on the entrance exams held, usually, in October. The first 75-80 students with the highest grades get an "early acceptance"; the next 300 are interviewed, where they choose the next 110 that get to attend the following school year. Royal West has also placed high in scholastic math competitions, including its rank of first in Quebec in 2006.

History[]

The grounds where Royal West is now located was once the Aberdeen School of Coteau Saint-Pierre. In 1894, the Aberdeen School was founded. It was renamed as the Montreal West High School in 1921. Ten years later, in 1931, the building was demolished and a larger building was built in its place. In 1951 and 1959, an extension to the main structure was built to make way for an elementary school. The extensions are what is now called the west wing.

In 1980, the elementary school was closed because of poor enrollment. The Royal Vale elementary school moved in, but was closed as well. Finally, in 1983, the Royal Vale French immersion high school and Montreal West High School merged to form Royal West Academy. The new Royal West Academy is quite different from its predecessor; unlike most public schools it has a uniform and an entrance examination.

Until 1998 the school was within the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal.[1]

One of the RWA Logos

Student groups[]

Environment Committee[]

The Environment Committee used to be called the "Environment Club", but underwent a name change to better reflect its current organization and objectives. Royal West Academy's Environment Committee is made up of students in grades 8 through to 11 who share the common goal of protecting our natural environment.[2]

Consequently, the committee holds a variety of events throughout the school year to raise awareness of numerous environmental issues. Its annual "Earth Week" includes fun and informative events such as a "No Car Day", "No Trash Day" and a "No Lights Day", as well as assemblies, tree plantings, organic baking sessions and after-school screenings of environmental documentaries. During the 2006-2007 school year, it invited guest speakers from Greenpeace and the Sierra Club of Canada to come and talk about climate change, as well as the need to modify our daily habits to diminish our impact on the environment. During the 2008-2009 school year, members of the committee chose to present at these assemblies as opposed to inviting guest speakers; the assemblies during Earth Week therefore showcased all that committee members have done, and plan to do in the coming years, to make Royal West Academy more environmentally-friendly.

The Environment Committee is also actively involved in changing the school's and the EMSB's environmental policies. It has built a park in the school's backfield,[3] campaigned Montreal West Town Hall for better recycling facilities (and thus helped to bring in a new recycling program)[4] and is currently trying to eliminate cafeteria waste by replacing plastic utensils with reusable and compostable ones. The Environment Committee also has its own bi-monthly newsletter, the Eco-Ego, which features articles written by students on a variety of environmental topics. The Eco-Ego is published as part of the school's monthly newsletter, the RWA News.

Notable graduates[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Schools" (Archive). Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal. January 17, 1998. Retrieved on November 24, 2014.
  2. ^ http://www.rwaec.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=53
  3. ^ Royal West Academy Environment Committee
  4. ^ Montreal Gazette, "Victory parade on Earth Day"

External links[]

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