Burnsview Secondary School opened in 1972 as a junior high school, accommodating grades 7 through 10. In 1992, at its 20th anniversary celebration, a time capsule was created by students to remain sealed until its opening in 2012. At the 40th Anniversary Reunion, held on Friday, November 23, 2012, the time capsule was unsealed. Burnsview suffered a fire in the summer of 1997, in which a whole school wing was destroyed. The rebuilding took over a year. The school was part of the Delta School District's reconfiguration project, and accepted Grade 11 students in 2005 and Grade 12 students in 2006.
Burnsview has actively participated in the World Vision 30 Hour Famine since the early 1990s. In 1992 students raised $10,000 for people in Somalia. In 1995, the student body managed to increase donations to $12,000, and sent this money to Rwanda. Students also gave up junk food for three weeks to add to their collection totals. The total money raised placed Burnsview as the second top fundraising school in Canada, just behind Collingwood School. In 1997, Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane performed a private concert for participants at the 30 Hour Famine. 150 students raised over $11,000, giving the school the highest per student average in Canada for that year. In 1998, before the start of the famine, students had raised over $18,500. The 2003 famine raised $20,000 for AIDS in Africa. In 2007, students raised over $30,000 in an effort to regain the title as top fund raising school in Canada. In 2008, students raised over $40,000 for World Vision.
Schedule
Burnsview Secondary runs on a linear system like many other Canadian high schools, meaning that all classes run from September to June. It is based on 8 courses put into blocks, which are separated over four days. Day 1 contains A B C D blocks, Day 2 contains E F G H blocks, Day 3 contains B A D C blocks, and Day 4 contains F E H G blocks. There is a 1 hour lunch break between B and C block as well as F and G block.
Enrichment Programs
In 2003, Burnsview began to host for a district wide Aboriginal Education program to educate Aboriginal students about their history. This program only accepts Aboriginal students. In 2003, Burnsview was awarded part of the Delta School District's $300,000 to purchase computers for students in Grade 8 English classes. This was part of a multi-year project to improve student achievement in literacy, specifically in proofreading, editing, and revising.
Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence
Four teachers have won this award while they have taught at Burnsview Secondary. They are:
Shain Chisholm, a French Immersion and Humanities teacher, in 1999.
