Sir William Van Horne Elementary School is a public elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

 in Vancouver, British Columbia part of School District 39 Vancouver

School District 39 Vancouver

Vancouver School Board is a school district based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A board of nine trustees manage this district that serves the city of Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands....

.

Location

It is located in the Oakridge neighborhood of Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

. The school itself is located in the Eric Hamber Secondary catchment area, however students are commonly split up for post secondary education as Van Horne's catchment covers parts of both the Eric Hamber and John Oliver Secondary catchments.

History

Van Horne was built in 1911, and was named after Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, the general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway. On May 26, 2011, Van Horne celebrated its centennial.

Architecture

The main building (built in 1911) was built in the brick style found in many other Vancouver Schools built in the same period. An addition of a gymnasium and classrooms was added in later years. In 2003 the VSB began seismic upgrading on the school, including the re-arrangement of classrooms, the addition of new library and computer lab facilities. On the west side of the main building, there are two detached classrooms.

Distance Education

In 2006, Van Horne was chosen as the host school for the GVDES (Greater Vancouver Distance Education School) Primary Program, but in 2009, the GVDES moved away from Van Horne.