Kitsilano Secondary School

Kitsilano Secondary School is the public secondary school in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The school has several district programs including French immersion and on-site pre-employment. Advanced Placement courses are also offered.

The first students selected royal blue and gold as the school colours, based on those of the University of Aberdeen (the Alma Mater of one of their teachers); the first Latin classes chose "Fiat Lux" (Let there be light) as the school motto. The original school crest was designed by Mr. S. P. Judge, the first art teacher at Kitsilano, and although the crest has undergone some slight changes over the decades, it still displays the original colours and motto.

The school is known for the numerous television and film productions which have been filmed there; Disturbing Behavior, Big Bully, Anything for Love, The Santa Claus 2, 21 Jump Street, and Party of Five used the school as a filming location. The school also counts a number of former alumni who went on to careers in film and television, most notably Ryan Reynolds and Joshua Jackson.

The school song "Hail Kitsilano"^[2] was composed in 1936 by Mr. Ivor Parfitt.^[3]

The school's mission statement is: "Kitsilano A place where you find Safety, energy, respect Passion for Learning! Fiat Lux!"^[4]

The main foyer is home to a portrait of Chief August Jack Khahtsahlano, the school's namesake. The auditorium houses a Tanu totem pole, carved by Don Yeomans in 1986 in honour of Vancouver's centennial anniversary.

Kitsilano won provincial basketball championships in 1997, were the City and District Champions, went to the Provincial finals in 1977, and the HSBC Vancouver basketball tournament in 2007. The Kits cheerleading team went to the world championships held at the ESPN World Wide Sports Centre in Florida in 2017 and 2018.

Concluding the 2020-2021 school year, the Kitsilano Athletics department shifted away from the "Blue Demon" name and logo toward a culturally appropriate new name and logo.

Kitsilano Secondary School was founded in 1917, when overflow classes from King Edward High School were moved to Cecil Rhodes School. The first temporary wooden structures for the new school were built in 1920 at Trafalgar and 12th Avenue. The current building was designed by Vancouver VSB staff architect Frank A.A. Barrs and opened in 1927. In 1958, a Modernist-style addition designed by school architect Allan B. Wilson was added to the south side of the original building. In 1973 a single storey concrete structure was added on the southeast corner of the site.^[5][6]

In 2010 the school board approved a concept plan for the seismic upgrades to the facility. In October 2011 the provincial government announced a $57.8 million restoration project that will include seismic upgrades and new construction meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Standards.^[7] In 2012 three design-build partners, each comprising a general contractor and an architectural firm, were shortlisted for the project. In August 2013 it was announced that the Bouygues Building Canada team were selected to design and build the renovation and expansion.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Construction began on the south east corner in 2014. This involved the removal of the tennis and volleyball courts. The new academic wing was completed in the summer of 2015 and the school's renovations were finished by fall 2017.^[11]

As of 2025 the first floor has the gym and associated PE facilities, music department, drama department, theatre/auditorium, atrium, cafeteria, school store, library, office, first aid, counsellors, support programs, art department, three bathrooms, business classes, computer lab, and design program. The second floor houses additional PE facilities such as the weights room, two bathrooms, English classes, social studies classes, math classes and home economics classes. The third floor has French classes, Spanish class, French immersion social studies classes, two bathrooms, math classes, and science labs.

French immersion classrooms are located entirely on the third floor. French, social studies, ecology, and science up to grade ten are offered in French. Music and art classes are occasionally listed as French immersion, but all are in English. The bathrooms on the first floor are generally the least busy. Classrooms on the east side of the second floor and north side of the third floor. Two AP courses are offered: psychology and European world history. An outdoor deck on the third floor is labeled as being one day used for an "outdoor learning space", but this has not yet been opened, nor shown any signs of work. The majority of classrooms have many large windows and the hallways a mostly open, with skylights on the southeast roof. Also on the premises are a parking lot, bike storage area, a garden, and a turf field used for sports matches, gym, and fire and earthquake drills. The school has a prize system based on "Kits cards", which are awarded by some teachers to students for demonstrating the Kits code of conduct, summarized by the use "Kits" as an acronym for "Kind", "Inclusive", "Thoughtful", and "Successful". There as a tree of the north side which has had a traffic cone stuck in it since at least 2017. There are a number of clubs offered at the school, most of which are run by students and hosted by teachers.

The clubs listed in the 2024-2025 yearbook were hackathon, gaming, Mandarin, reach for the top, robotics, senior math, creators' collective, music council, croquis, ski/snowboard, student forum, iron bulldogs, plastic models, pride, blood donation, Rubik's cube, table tennis, uno, workout, book, dungeons and dragons, CCC prep, creative writing, photo, board game, debate, French, gardening, girl fit, ideas, jewelry, Just Dance, Leo, medical science, model UN, and origami.

On April 5, 2013 students, parents and staff were informed that an incident involving two students and a staff member may have occurred during a school trip two years earlier. The teacher involved was placed on paid leave. Neither the Vancouver School Board or Vancouver Police Department will discuss the specifics of the allegations. No charges have ever been filed.^[12][13]

On January 31, 2018 a groping incident between students occurred at a school dance. The incident was under investigation as of February 3, 2018 according to a Vancouver School Board spokesman. Parents were also informed by administration about the incident.^[14][15]

• Julian Clarke, film editor, specifically nominated for a Academy Award for his role editing the movie District 9
• Kathleen Heddle, Olympic rower, 3-time Gold medallist^[16]
• Josh Holmes, Video game designer^[17]
• Joshua Jackson, actor^[16]
• Levon Kendall, professional basketball player^[18]
• Boris Malagurski, film director, producer, writer, political commentator, and television host
• Justin Mensah-Coker, professional rugby player, currently playing with Plymouth Albion R.F.C. (UK)^[19]
• Ryan Reynolds, television/movie star^[16]
• Sarah Strange, television/movie actor

• School history webpage
• Kitsilano SS renewal project
• Kitsilano SS renewal project schedule
• Canada's Historic Places, Kitsilano Secondary School webpage
• Kitsilano Secondary School Alumni Association