Lisgar Collegiate Institute

History

In 1843, a grammar school with 40 paying students was opened in the Sandy Hill area of Ottawa in a house at the corner of Waller Street and Daly Avenue. In 1859, the school became one of the first in Ontario to admit girls. The school changed locations several times in the first few years, and was renamed first Bytown Grammar School and later Ottawa Grammar School. In 1871 the school was raised to a high school and in 1873 to a collegiate institute, becoming Ottawa Collegiate Institute.

The school found a permanent home in 1873 when a lot at what was then the southern edge of the city was purchased. The school board acquired the land on Biddy Street for $3,200 and paid a squatter $100 to give up any claims on the land. Biddy Street was renamed Lisgar Street in 1880 after Lord Lisgar, an Irishman who served as Canada's second Governor-General. A Gothic Revival style structure, designed by W.T. Thomas and W. Chesterton, was built at a cost of $26,000. Governor General Lord Dufferin (another Irishman) laid the cornerstone and the school opened in 1874.

In 1892, the school became the first public secondary school in Ontario to hire a female teacher. Four new classrooms were added on the south side in 1892, but a fire in 1893 caused the school to be temporarily closed. Lisgar was one of a limited number of buildings to survive the Great Ottawa fire. In 1903, the east wing was built with eight new classrooms. Ottawa architect Edgar Lewis Horwood added a west wing with laboratories and an auditorium in 1908. A rifle range for the cadet corps, in the now blocked-off fifth-floor attic, was added in 1912, and a basement cafeteria in 1923. After the school was split in 1922 to form Glebe Collegiate Institute, OCI was renamed Ottawa Lisgar Street Collegiate Institute, which was soon shortened to Lisgar Collegiate Institute. Officially, the school remained OCI for several decades. Since the split, Glebe and Lisgar have been traditional rivals.

In 1951, a new gymnasium was built across the street with a tunnel connecting it to the main building. It was not open for the use of students for many years, but it was re-opened in October 2015. The new building was enlarged in 1962. The old gym was turned into what is now the cafeteria. The old building and the newer building are now referred to as the North and South buildings, respectively.

In 1957, Lisgar was the first school in Ontario to introduce a special program for gifted students.

In the 1970s, a cash-strapped Ottawa Board of Education decided to close the school and sell its valuable downtown real estate. This action was blocked by community members and alumni, and the school was completely renovated instead.

In 1996, the third floor of the North building was completely renovated and the science labs were modernized. In March 2003, parts of the first and second floors and the basement of the North building were damaged by a water main break that closed the school for a week, coincidentally before the previously-scheduled March Break, thus giving the students two weeks off school. Some minor changes were made to the affected floors floor in the reconstruction.

Memorial Hall

The Ottawa Lisgar Collegiate Institute erected a brass plaque which is dedicated to the memory of students of Ottawa Collegiate Institute (now known as Lisgar Collegiate Institute) who gave their lives in the First World War. A memorial is dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer who killed in action during the Great War; Unveiled in 2001, the plaque was erected by the Lisgar Alumni Association. The Lisgar Collegiate Institute erected a memorial plaque which is dedicated to the memory of former Lisgar students who died during the Second World War. A memorial framed poster erected by the Lisgar Collegiate Institute is dedicated to the sixteen Canadians awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery during the Second World War. The Lisgar Collegiate Institute erected a memorial which is dedicated to the memory of former Lisgar students who died or served during the Korean War/Conflict.

A brass plaque and print were erected by students and alumni in 1986 to Sergeant Edward James Gibson Holland, V.C. of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, a graduate of Lisgar Collegiate who was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in action during the Boer War at Leliefontein, Komati River, South Africa on November 7, 1900.

The Lisgar Collegiate Institute and Vintage Wings of Canada erected a memorial plaque unveiled in 2008, which is dedicated to the memory of Pilot Officer David Francis Gaston Rouleau, who had died during the Second World War trying to get to Malta. The Lisgar Collegiate Institute erected a memorial frame including a Canadian flag which was flown in Afghanistan which was presented to Lisgar by LCol Plourde.

Academics

Students have frequently placed highly in mathematics competitions. Lisgar students take part in the University of Waterloo contests, the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge, the Canadian Math Olympiad, and the AMC 12. For instance, they have frequently placed in the top ten amongst Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Winners.

Students also take part in a lot of science contests. Lisgar offers the chance to take the University of Toronto Biology Exam (national competition), Avogadro Chemistry Contest, and Physics Contests. Many students have placed in the 90th percentile and above on these contests.

Lisgar has been the home of the Ottawa-Carleton Educational Space Simulation since 1990. The school is the only one in the region and one of the few in Canada to run such a program. Lisgar was also one of the original members of the now-defunct International Student Space Simulation.

Music

Lisgar has a huge selection of ensembles to take part in. These include the Concert Band (Beginner level), Wind Ensemble (Intermediate Level), Symphonic Winds (Senior Level), Concert Orchestra (Beginner level), Sinfonia (Intermediate level orchestra), the Lisgar Symphony Orchestra (Senior level), String Ensemble, Choir, and Junior and Senior Jazz Bands. In total, there are 10 different groups. These groups take part in many music competitions, including the Ottawa Kiwanis Music Festival, where Lisgar has often taken home gold. Every year, there are two major performances given by all the ensembles, Winter and Spring Music Nights (in December and May). At these performances, students have the chance to demonstrate the skills they have achieved throughout the year to their parents and other spectators.

Athletics

Lisgar has a large athletics department. Some of the sports Lisgar participates in include Rugby, Soccer, Hockey, Basketball, Rowing, Cross Country, and many others. Each year, tens of athletes are invited to city finals, and provincial finals in their respective sports, and each year, students bring home awards and medals.

Advanced Placement Courses

Lisgar Collegiate Institute offers many Advanced Placement courses. Apart from Advanced Placement Latin: Vergil and Advanced Placement Spanish, students taking AP courses take an advanced form of a regular course, which provides them with an Ontario Credit, as well as taking the AP exam in May. As of 2016, Lisgar inaugurated its AP Capstone Program which requires students to take AP Seminar and AP Research as well as four other AP Courses with a score greater than 3.

Clubs

Lisgar has a wide variety of clubs available to its students, ranging from Debate Club, to Biomedical Club, to Chess Club. However, the school's more notable clubs include Amnesty International [AI], Lisgar's Environmental Action Force (LEAF), Ottawa-Carleton Educational Space Simulation (Space Sim), and Kiwanis Educating Youth (KEY). Lisgar's Student Council consists of nine committees that oversee events throughout the school year, including the well-known Annual United Way Pancake Breakfast and the Canned Food Drive for the Ottawa Centretown Food Bank.

In 2006, the school's Reach for the Top team became the first Canadian team to participate in the NAQT High School National Championships, placing 25th. In 2008, the Lisgar Reach team became the first team to qualify for both the Canadian Reach for the Top finals and the NAQT High School National Championships in Chicago, placing second in Ontario for Reach and first in their qualifying division (Ottawa) for NAQT. Electing to attend the Reach Nationals in Edmonton, Lisgar came from behind to beat two-time champion University of Toronto Schools 420-415 for the national title. In 2010, Lisgar was able to qualify two teams for the NAQT Chicago tournament.

Lisgar's Improv Team, founded in 1997 and affectionately known as 'Jimmy', has a reputation for being of the highest calibre. Regular attendees of the National Festival of the Canadian Improv Games and National Champions in 1999 and 2000, Jimmy has been a pillar of the Ottawa Improv community for years.

Notable alumni