[3] "This approach will be radically different from that practised in conventional classrooms... For example, rather than engaging in systematic study of the various disciplines, the student will focus on the solution of problems more relevant to his needs.".
"[11] Students were pictured studying rock formations with a UBC professor, looking at chicken foetuses in a genetics class, and loading the school van for a camping trip.
were regular events as were camping trips to various provincial parks (Alice Lake, Porpoise Bay, Golden Ears, Montague Harbour, Newcastle Island).
Closer to home, students took advantage of libraries, art galleries, museums, public lectures, law courts, university classes, film festivals, and myriad other resources to learn outside the walls of the school building.
In January 1977, the students and staff, wearing black armbands, walked from their boarded-up building to their "new" leased premises in the former Sacred Heart School at 884 East Pender Street.
Minor modifications had been made to create a darkroom and kitchen, but the floor plan was essentially a corridor running the length of the building, with classrooms off both sides.
The remaining students and their families were committed to maintaining the school's philosophy and traditions through further staff changes and the prospect of another move.
In September 1980 it opened its fourth set of doors, in what had been the cafeteria on the ground floor of King George Secondary, at 1755 Barclay Street.
Constraints on the "student-centred education" model of the early 1970s came, over time, in the form of provincially mandated final exams, and demands for accountability and conformity from district administrators.
Alumni were or are to be found performing with bands (Econoline Crush, Uzume Taiko, Slow,[13] ©/Copyright, Brilliant Orange, Flash Bastard, Power Ballad, The Winks, Nü Sensae, Petroleum By-Product, Thee Ahs, Mary Sweeney, The Bank Dogs, Blue Reef, Rossi Gang) and as independent artists.
Embryo writers, poets, journalists, composers, film makers, photographers, painters and glass artists explored and developed their talents there.
Another funding and space crunch mandated a downsizing of City School once again, and it moved to a smaller area within the King George building in 1996.
As of September, 2020, City School was reinvented as a Senior District Alternative Program, offering its unique approach to a maximum of 22 students in Grade 11 and 12.