Strabane Grammar School


Strabane Grammar School was a grammar school located just outside Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was within the Western Education and Library Board area. As part of the 2020 scheme, the school was officially shut down on 30 June 2011 to join with Strabane High School, to create Strabane Academy.

Location

The school was located on of wooded grounds at Milltown House just outside Strabane. It overlooked the River Mourne to the south of the town.

History

The main school building, Milltown House, was built in 1887 and for a time was the residence of hymn-writer and poet Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander, best known for her hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful". Milltown House was used as the headmasters study, the reception, a history room, a staff room, an IT suite and two English rooms.

Academic success

For the last 9 years of the school's existence, it ranked 1st out of all Controlled Grammar Schools in Northern Ireland concerning exam results, and was placed among the top 50 state schools in the UK. In 2005, three year-12 pupils from the school participated in a UK-wide physics challenge, in which the team emerged in second place, stopped just short of winning the competition by a private school in England.