Find the photos below and more at Esquimalt Municipal hall in our foyer. The collection was assembled by the Esquimalt Archives team of staff and volunteers.
School days in Esquimalt
Today there are three public schools in Esquimalt: École Macaulay School, Rockheights Middle School, and Esquimalt High School. École Victor-Brodeur is a French-first K-12 school operated by the Conseil Scolaire Francophone public school district, which represents Francophone students throughout B.C.
The early schools
In 1863, the first free public school was established, and in 1870, the Esquimalt School District was established. The Old Esquimalt Village school, in operation until 1906, was in the present-day Dockyard area. The old school building, later taken over by the Provincial Government, was used for a number of years for dances, community social activities and “frivolities.”
By 1872, there were 50 children in the school district, and by 1910, there were 257. From 1890-1903, the Viewfield Farm School operated at Old Esquimalt Road and Lampson. In 1903, Lampson St. School opened in a 4-room brick building, and in 1912-13, a second storey, two new wings, and a new addition were completed. Lampson closed in 1976, received a heritage designation in 1990, reopened in 1993, and closed as a public school in 2007. It is currently used as a high school for students of École Victor-Brodeur.
Craigflower Schoolhouse, just across the Gorge Waterway in Saanich, is the oldest school, and the oldest surviving public building in BC, dating from 1854.
About this display
This exhibit was prepared by volunteers at the Esquimalt Municipal Archives. Contact us at archives@esquimalt.ca, or visit us at #103, 1249 Esquimalt Road, Tuesdays 1.00 pm to 4.30 pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays 8.30 am to 4.30 pm.
The histories of Lampson St. School and Esquimalt High School are well-documented in our collections; other Esquimalt schools less so. If you have historical photographs or memorabilia from Esquimalt schools, we would be honoured to preserve them for the future!
Schools in Esquimalt
Esquimalt High School
Esquimalt High School opened in 1915 in Lampson St. School with 25 high school students, following the curriculum of Victoria High School. The school was rather peripatetic, moving in 1918 to the Old Island Weavers Building on Esquimalt Road, back to Lampson in 1924-25, and to a 3-room school on Head Street in 1926. Finally, in 1960 the senior students moved to the present site on Colville Road. Junior high students remained at Head Street, and later attended Highrock Junior Secondary School, now Rockheights Middle School, built in 1965. The school motto is Esse Quam Videri, “To be, rather than to seem.”
École Victor-Brodeur
École Victor-Brodeur, a French-first school, was originally established in 1973 for children of the military at CFB Esquimalt. Victor-Gabriel Brodeur (1892-1976) was the Commanding Officer of the Pacific Coast and Dockyard at the outbreak of WWII, and the school was located in the former home of the Brodeur family in the 1930s. The school is now located on Head Street, in a building completed in 2007 on the site of the former Harbourview School, and uses Lampson St. School for its high school students. In addition to French curriculum, the school offers the Baccalauréat International program.
École Macaulay School
École Macaulay School was built in 1953, as Lampson was becoming overcrowded. The 8-room school opened with 240 pupils in Grades 1-6. In 1962 four more classrooms were added, and a 1998 addition accommodated a further 125 students. Currently, students are in Grades K-5, with 10 divisions taught in French and 14 in English. The school offers the free Strong Start BC pre-school program.
Rockheights Middle School
Rockheights Middle School opened in 1967, on land originally part of the Constance Cove Farm, serving K-Grade 6, and adding Grade 7 in the early 1970s. In 1968, a new wing added classrooms and library space. In 1987, music and activity rooms, a computer lab and wheelchair ramps were added. After further renovations, Rockheights became a middle school for Grades 6-8 in 2002, and was one of the first schools to obtain funding for “before and after school” care programs. The school offers a range of activities for children to explore new interests and hobbies. Rocky the Raven is the school mascot.