History of Kingsway College

rdf:langString History of Kingsway College

rdf:langString Kingsway College is a high school in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, with a Seventh-day Adventist environment which encourages personal spiritual commitment and fosters academic excellence, physical fitness, sensitive service, and growth in employment and social skills. The school was established in 1903 in Lorne Park (a community to the west of Toronto, now part of Mississauga) by Eugene Leland and his wife, and was then known as Lornedale Academy, and had eight students from Grades 1–9. By 1907, the enrollment had grown to 40 students. In 1911, Lornedale had become a high school, serving grades 7-12, which led to a need for more space and equipment. The school began looking for a new site, and the present site in Oshawa (east of Toronto) was acquired. The school was renamed Buena Vista Academy, and opened in 1912. The school quickly grew. In 1914, it became a Union Conference school. In 1916, it became a junior college with fourteen grades, and its name was changed to Eastern Canadian Missionary Seminary. In 1920, the school was incorporated, leading to another name change, this time to Oshawa Missionary College. During the Depression years, enrollment decreased and some programs were discontinued, following which an improvement program was implemented in 1933. Enrollment decreased again during World War II, but following the war, the college enjoyed a period of expansion. In 1963, the school name was changed once more, to Kingsway College, reflecting a curriculum that included a complete academic program while decreasing the implication that the school was only a Bible college. In 1975, the Branson school of nursing was closed due to a change in nursing education policy by the Ontario government. This led to the decision to close the remainder of the college program and merge it with Canadian Union College in Alberta, leaving Kingsway strictly a high school. Since then Kingsway College has followed the ups and downs that have come with the Ontario education system, including the phasing out of OAC in 2002.