[2][3] The school is named after Béatrice Desloges, an early twentieth century Franco-Ontarian teacher in Ottawa who, with her sister Diane, successfully opposed Regulation 17, which aimed at rendering illegal all French language teaching in the province of Ontario.

Although most of the construction was finished by the end of August 2007, the amphitheatre would not be opened until the beginning of spring 2008,[8] costing in total a near twelve million dollars.

[6][7] On March 2, 2007, the school was awarded the Prix jeunesse (youth prize) by the organization Communications et société for World Social Communications Day, for its unifying religious and artistic interpretation in "Le chemin de croix du XXIe siècle" (The Way of the Cross of the 21st Century).

Once a student officially enrolls into ADA by grade 9, he or she has to choose a specific domain of specialization: either Music, Visual and Digital Arts, or Drama.

[10] Within the Drama specialization, a partnership with the École nationale de l'humour (National Comedy school) of Montreal is offered for specific modules.