Bishop Strachan School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Bishop Strachan School (BSS), named after Anglican Bishop John Strachan, is an all girls' school in Toronto. It was founded by John Langtry in 1867 as an institution different from most other schools for young women at that time. It was, for one, not Catholic, which many Anglican parents thought to convert their daughters. It was also not a very pricey finishing schools, making it affordable enough for middle and upper middle class families. From its beginning, the school educated young women to become accomplished in academics, offering university entrance subjects such as Latin even before most universities admitted women. The school takes girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 (approximately age 4-17) as day students and Grade 7-12 as boarders. Boarders come from all over Canada and the world. While the school is still Anglican in tradition, students are from all faiths.
Like many other private schools througout the Commonwealth, BSS's traditions are based on similar schools in Britain. Senior student leaders are called prefects, uniforms are worn, and a house system is in place. Students are divided into one of twelve day houses starting in Grade 7. There are also two boarding houses and boarders are members of both. The present house system was created in the early 70s to replace the old "team" system of single Greek letters. Eight houses existed until 2000 when an additional two were added. In 2002, another two houses were added on to a total of twelve.
Interesting Facts
- The school is represented in John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany where the book's narrator is a teacher.
- While BSS does many of its activities with the all boys' Upper Canada College (UCC), the boys' school is not BSS's historical brother school. That would be Trinity College School in Port Hope, which became co-ed in the early 90s.
