Killarney Secondary School

Killarney Secondary School is a public secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest public secondary school in the city by area. The school and the neighbourhood it is located in is named after Killarney, Ireland. History Killarney opened on September 29, 1957, beginning with students from Grades 7–10 and one wing (A-Wing). The teaching staff consisted of 52 members under the direction of principal Tom Alsbury. Grade 11 was added the following year, and Grade 12 the year after that, with the first class of senior students graduating as the class of 1960. At the time of its opening, the school was surrounded by vacant land as the areas to the east and south were just beginning to see development. Killarney continued to grow especially as the area south of 49th Avenue matured. November 1961 saw the addition of a new wing to the building which included an auditorium and stage (B-Wing). Just over six years later in December 1967, D-Wing was completed, which greatly expanded and improved the existing science and industrial education facilities. In the 1970s, seven portable classrooms were placed on the grounds to accommodate over 1,700 students enrolled by that time (construction of a neighbouring secondary school had been delayed). Within a decade, enrollment reached 2,000 and has remained around this number since. C-Wing was added in 2003, with a new entrance, a foyer, 21 new classrooms, a new band-room, and a state of the art music lab.