Marymount Adult Education Centre in Côte Saint-Luc to Take on Wagar Name for 2017-2018 Academic Year

Wagar High School occupied the Parkhaven Avenue building from 1963 until its closure in 2005. The Marymount Adult Education Centre, which previously shared the premises of the Marymount Academy International on Côte Saint-Luc Road in NDG, relocated to the building in September 2005. The facility also serves as the home of the C.A.R.E. Centre, which offers services to adults over the age of 21 with physical disabilities and John Grant High School, which caters to special needs students.

“For the past 12 years we have had two schools called Marymount, leading to some confusion,” stated EMSB Commissioner for Côte Saint-Luc Bernard Praw. “I have spoken to many people in the community over the past year, from private citizens to the mayor, and there was a great desire to bring the Wagar name back. In fact, since Wagar closed as a high school most people still refer to it as the name of the building.”

Last year the auditorium in the building was named after the late Syd Wise, the respected former Wagar principal and school commissioner who passed away in November 2015. “I know that Syd very much wanted to see the Wagar name returned,” said EMSB Chairman Angela Mancini.

At one point in the 1970s, Wagar High School had more than 1,700 students. The school was named after a former Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal Commissioner named Roy Wagar, who passed away in 1962.

The Marymount Adult Education Centre has over 1,800 students, offering day and evening courses to adults aged 16 and over in French and English catering mainly to new Canadian citizens and landed immigrants learning the languages.  The school also has a large special needs population and operates satellite classes in different locations across the city.