Our History

Westboro Academy was founded in 1993 by a small group of parents who wanted the best education for their young children.

Their vision was a co-ed elementary school featuring a fully bilingual program with small class sizes, a back-to-basics approach, with an enriched focus on reading, writing, mathematics, science and extra-curricular activities. When they discovered that the only bilingual elementary school that existed in Ottawa was exclusive to female students, they decided, in late 1992, to create their own school.

The group, along with the first and founding Principal, Murielle Bray, an experienced and dedicated principal and teacher, met regularly to define and act on key issues: curriculum, staffing, accommodation, finance, administration, incorporation, government registration, uniforms, school supplies, after-school care, fundraising, communications and enrolment. There was much to do in a very short timeframe, but, in September 1993, the vision became reality and thus, Académie Westboro Academy started its first academic year with a total of seven children enrolled in Grade 1 in a leased classroom in Ottawa’s Westboro neighbourhood.

The new school grew and changed quickly, much like the students. As Murielle Bray stated in the school’s 1995-1996 yearbook, “Westboro Academy has evolved into an environment fostering warm friendships and a deep commitment to high moral standards”. During the school’s first seven years it expanded to six grades, added junior and senior kindergarten classes, hired new teachers, and moved three times to larger premises. By June 2000, when the first Grade 6 class graduated, Westboro Academy numbered 95 students and 13 faculty and staff.

Today, Académie Westboro Academy keeps growing and thriving, guided by the core values established at its start: “Excellence, Integrity, Respect”.  We have expanded to include grades Junior Kindergarten through 8, over 150 students and our team now includes six staff members and fourteen faculty members dedicated to our students and to upholding our school’s core values and strong sense of community.  Our founders, Tom Abraham, Rosemary Burton, Wes Burton, Joanne Gauthier and Elizabeth Shore alongside all our community members look forward to the continuing success of this outstanding school.