| 1860 | In September, the Sisters of St. Ann open a new convent school on View Street in Victoria. The school is located in a brick building, constructed at a cost of $5,000. The building was paid for by Bishop Demers. The View Street Convent, as it was known, was enlarged in 1863 in order to accommodate boarders and day students. |
| 1861 | The Rev. Cridge submits his second report on the Vancouver Island colonial
schools. At Victoria, fifty-six pupils (53 boys and 3 girls) were enrolled; at Craigflower, twenty-three pupils
(15 boys and 8 girls) attended school. Nanaimo School, under the direction of schoolmaster Cornelius Bryant, enrolled thirty-two pupils: 22 boys and 10 girls. |
| 1862 | The first non-denominational "public" or "common" school is established at New Westminster in 1862.
A school is opened in conjunction with St. Stephen's (Anglican) Church on the Saanich Peninsula. The school is later known as South Saanich School.
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| 1863 | A school is opened by the Roman Catholic Oblate Fathers at Okanagan Mission. All instruction is in French. In March 1863, the first school operated by the Sisters of St. Ann - a log cabin on Humboldt Street, Victoria - was converted to dormitory and classroom for pre-school age boys. This was the first junior school for boys in the Northwest. However, pre-school for boys was closed in November 1864 because of low enrollment. |
| 1864 | St. Louis' College, a school for Roman Catholic boys, is established on Pandora Street in Victoria. Construction began in 1863 and classes commenced in January 1864. The school was conducted by the Oblate Fathers until 1866. Afterwards, it was run by diocesan clergy until 1915 when it was taken over by the Christian Brothers of Ireland.
The Sisters of St. Ann open a boarding school for aboriginal girls at Quamichan, in the Cowichan Valley, in October 1864. Over the next decade, about one native and mixed blood girls attended the school. In 1875 the Cowichan Convent School was amalgamated with an orphanage, also run by the Sisters of St. Ann. |
| 1865 | After a spirited campaign by Amor
de Cosmos, the Legislative Council of Vancouver Island passes
the Common School Act. A General Board of Education is established and Alfred
Waddington is appointed Superintendent of Education.
A common school is opened at Esquimalt, although the Esquimalt School District is not formally established until October 1870. |
| 1866 | The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia are amalgamated to
form the so-called "United Colony of British Columbia." |
| 1869 | The Common
School Ordinance is passed by the Colonial Legislature of British
Columbia. This ordinance repeals Vancouver Island's 1865 Common School Act and vests control of education in the
Governor-in-Council. A school district on Salt Spring Island is officially established. |
