VANCOUVER -- Here's a look at West Point Grey Academy, the school in Vancouver where Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau taught and was photographed as a 29-year-old wearing dark paint on his hands and face, dressed as Aladdin at a themed gala event:
HISTORY: The school was founded in 1996 by four families. Its website says they "envisioned a progressive coeducational independent day school" for children on the west side of Vancouver.
LOCATION: The academy opened on just over seven hectares of land on Jericho Hill. It overlooks picturesque English Bay and the North Shore mountains.
STUDENT ENROLMENT: The original goal was for the school to have 150 students, but 325 children from junior kindergarten to Grade 8 ended up enrolled in its first class by September 1996. The school has space for 943 students today from junior kindergarten to grade 12.
STAFF: The academy employs 174 teachers and staff.
FACILITIES: Its campus on West 8th Avenue consists of three academic buildings and two gymnasiums.
FIRST GRADUATES: The class of 2001 consisted of 31 students.
TRUDEAU CONNECTION: The Liberal leader taught math, humanities, social studies, French and drama at the academy after graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1998. Trudeau left the academy in summer 2001 to take a teaching position in the public system and later taught at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary. He was the chair of Katimavik, a national volunteer service program, between 2002 and 2006.
SOURCE: The Canadian Press, West Point Grey Academy and the University of British Columbia websites.
