Vancouver Christian School History (3 schools in 1)

 

 

 

Vancouver Christian School (http://vancouverchristian.org)

The idea of a Christian school in Vancouver was first conceived by a group of Dutch immigrants, with Reformed religious roots, in the late 1930s. The school, first know as “Calvin Christian School” opened its doors in 1949 making it the first Christian school of its kind in B.C.
Enrolment quickly expanded as many Dutch immigrants arrived in the decade after World War II. Shortly after its opening, two new schools branched off into Burnaby (John Knox) and Richmond (Richmond Christian School).
In 1965, the school changed its name to Vancouver Christian School. Property was purchased on Killarney Street where it remained as a K‐7 school until the late 1980s. During the 1960s and ‘70s, the school population diversified as it developed into a truly interdenominational school representing many churches and cultures.
In 1978, Vancouver Christian expanded to include a regional high school by opening a grade 8‐12 program on a new site on Mons Avenue. In 1988, after 10 years of operation, the high school closed its doors with the promise that the dream of a high school would be developed again over time. The Killarney property was sold and the K‐7 school moved to the Mons site.
By 1991, Vancouver Christian had developed the first middle school in British Columbia (grades 6‐8) and had also begun to add a junior high program up to grade 10, in fulfillment of promises made when the high school had closed down in 1988. Although overall the school flourished during this decade, it remained difficult to sustain the junior high program due to the continuing exit of students from grades 7 and 8 into the public school system.
The first decade of the new millennium saw huge enrolment growth at Vancouver Christian and it implemented a full double‐track system.

John Knox Christian School (http://johnknoxbc.org) In 1955, John Knox Christian School opened its doors as a new Christian elementary school serving the New Westminster and Burnaby areas. In the school’s first year of operation it had 65 students in 4 classrooms, with 2 teachers and a principal.
In the 1960s, a second wing with 5 classrooms was added to the school to accommodate more students. Physical Education classes were held in a church meeting hall across the street.
In 1964, a regional Christian high school known as Fraser Valley Christian High School was formed under a separate society, and initially operated on the John Knox campus. Fraser Valley Christian High School moved into a new building in Surrey in 1966.
As the John Knox School grew in the 1970s, and many new students came from the Surrey area, a decision was made to start a new elementary campus across the Fraser River. The Surrey campus opened in 1978 and was known as “John Knox Christian School – Surrey”. In 1986 the Surrey campus formed its own society and became known as “Surrey Christian School”.
Back in Burnaby, John Knox underwent another major expansion in 1995 adding a gym, library, two additional classrooms and administrative offices.
In 2004, under pressure from an expanding student population, John Knox moved its grades 5 to 7 to a new campus in Burnaby leased from Burnaby School District. The leased campus served to relieve the John Knox School of its immediate space issues, and also provided opportunity to revisit a proposal to start a new Christian high school in cooperation with the Vancouver Christian School.
In 2006, the Strategic Planning Committee of John Knox envisioned a new building for the school, and in 2008, a 3‐year capital campaign was launched, the old building was removed and students and staff were temporarily divided between a vacant elementary school in Coquitlam, and the leased Burnaby campus. Construction of the new school began in 2009 and was completed in February 2010, on time and on budget. On March 1, 2010 students and staff moved into the new building. In May 2010 the building was dedicated to God’s glory.

Carver Christian High School (http://carverchristian.org)Around the turn of the millennium, as other Christian schools were developing into K ‐ 12 schools, Vancouver Christian and John Knox began to consider again the idea of developing a regional high school in the Vancouver‐Burnaby area

In September 2005, the vision and hard work of its founders was rewarded when Carver Christian High School opened its doors to welcome 77 students from Grades 9 ‐ 11. A year later, as student enrolment increased, grade 12 was added.
In 2011, in the interest of retaining students who might otherwise go to public school and in the interest of attracting new students Carver expanded its program to include grade 8. John Knox moved its grade 8 students to Carver and Vancouver Christian continued to operate its grade 6 – 8 middle school program