About Us
Westboro Academy is a small, independent bilingual school located in Ottawa South. We welcome families with children from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Discover what makes Westboro Academy unique and if we could fit your family.
Why Choose Westboro Academy?
Educational Approach
Head of School's Message
Faculty & Staff
Our Mission
Our mission at Westboro Academy is to provide a genuinely bilingual and exceptional education in a community-focused and nurturing environment. We cultivate independence, critical thinking and character in preparation for life-long learning.
Governance
Westboro Academy is a non-profit, registered charity governed by an elected Board of Directors. Every parent member of the Society may run in the elections to take a leadership role by serving a two-year term on the Board of Directors. Parents are encouraged to be involved in school governance and to share opinions and expertise.
A Brief History
Westboro Academy recognizes that our school is located in Ottawa, on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial. The school acknowledges the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and believes education contributes to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together.
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 Grade 8, a capacity for just over 170 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.