In June 1871, the Wesleyan Conference of Canada selected what was then Stanstead Plain, Quebec, as the location of its new college for the Eastern Townships. Construction of the school began in fall 1872, with official incorporation of Stanstead Wesleyan College taking place on December 24, 1872. First classes were not held, however, until January 1874, with Rev. A. Lee Holmes serving as the first principal. Initially the school was financed through the sale of shares and tuition. However, due to the slow sales of shares and low tuition, the stockholders transferred the property of Stanstead Wesleyan College to the Montreal Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada in December 1876. Association with the Methodist Church of Canada continued until the 1980s, with the school reincorporating as a fully independent and non-denominational Stanstead College. In addition to providing education to boarding students, Stanstead Wesleyan College served as the local Protestant high school. In 1903, the Holmes Model School was opened, serving as the local grade school until Sunnyside School opened in 1952. The college also operated the Bugbee Business College and the Eastern Townships Conservatory of Music until 1958. In 1938, a fire destroyed the college's main building. Its replacement, Colby House, opened in 1940. During World War II, Stanstead College hosted a number of evacuees from Oldfeld School in Swanage, Dorset. In 1951, Pierce Hall was destroyed by fire. In 1959, Stanstead College became an all-boys residential school and remained so until 1979. In 1977, after Quebec adopted Bill 101, Stanstead College became fully independent by choosing to no longer accept subsidies from the Quebec government. The decision allowed the school to continue admitting francophone students without certificates of eligibility. In 2001, the school’s Rec Hall was destroyed by fire, replaced eight months later by the new Eric T. Webster Student Centre. Working in collaboration with the Town of Stanstead and with grants from the federal and provincial governments, the college opened the Pat Burns Arenain September 2011. In September 2019, the school opened Cowen House, a co-ed Grade 12 residence, with boys and girls living in separate wings with a shared common area.
Facilities
There are four residences on campus for boarding students: Davis House ; Webster House ; Bugbee House ; and Cowen House. Cowen House is a co-ed residence, with boys and girls living in separate wings with a shared common area. It opened in September 2019. The campus also includes the LeBaron Dining Hall, the W. John Mackay Gymnasium, the Amaron Gymnasium, the Pat Burns Arena, Pierce Hall, Holmes Model School, Centenary Church, a health centre, a physio clinic, Alumni House, faculty housing, athletic fields and numerous academic facilities.
Athletics
Involvement in the athletics program is mandatory in all three terms for all students, in accordance with their age, ability and interests. Despite being a small school, Stanstead College fields a number of interscholastic teams and has achieved success at the regional, provincial and national level. In 2014, the senior girls' soccer team won the school's first-ever CAIS national tournament title at BCS. The senior boys' basketball team won three consecutive Visser Provincial Basketball Tournaments, while the senior girls won the MacLeod Provincial Basketball Tournament in 2017 for the first time ever, repeating in 2018 and 2019. The school also operates an elite varsity hockey program for boys and girls. The boys compete in the Midwest Prep Hockey League, while the girls compete in the North American Prep Hockey Association, winning their league and playoff championships in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2012, Stanstead College senior Mark Jankowski was drafted in the first round, 21st overall, by the Calgary Flames. Other sports include soccer, cross-country running, basketball, squash, tennis, swimming, rugby, track, badminton, volleyball and lacrosse.
