Earl Marriott Secondary School


Earl Marriott Secondary is a public high school in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada and is part of School District 36 Surrey. It is referred to as the 'Home of the Mariners'. It is located on the edge of city limits, on 16 Avenue. Along with Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School, it was, until the beginning of the 2017/2018 school year, one of the subjects of a proposal by the school district to increase school hours to cope with the overpopulation.

History

Originally White Rock Secondary School, Earl Marriott Secondary was founded in 1973 and named after its first Principal, Earl Marriott, who eventually became Superintendent of Surrey School District #36.
Earl Marriott is best known for its excellence in the theatre, as well as its athletic achievements, particularly and most recently in rugby. EMS puts on either a play or musical out of the indwelling Wheelhouse Theatre year after year.
To advocate for expansion, at 2:00pm on March 1, 2011, over 1,000 students walked out to intervene the new bell schedule. Politicians, principals, and the media all showed to take part of the anti-government petition.

Academics

Earl Marriott is one of four French immersion high schools in Surrey and offers full course loads in both French and English. About 25 per cent of students are French immersion and attend from across the Semiahmoo Peninsula.
Earl Marriott offers courses including physical education, all major humanities and sciences as well as art, home economics, info tech, and trades courses. It is one of the few schools that offer competitive co-op experiences for its students. Earl Marriott offers a science and humanities co-op, as well as a mechanical co-op.

Athletics

EMS enjoys a publicly lighthearted rivalry with Semiahmoo Secondary School, but fierce within student circles and even some staff members, as well as Elgin Park Secondary School.
The school competes in the Sandcastle Cup, an annual game between the Mariners and Semiahmoo Secondary School Totems.
The Wheelhouse Theatre is a 290-seat proscenium theatre located at Earl Marriott Secondary School. It is the largest performing arts theatre on the Semiahmoo Peninsula. The Wheelhouse's primary usage is as a classroom and training facility for students pursuing theatre, and its secondary usage is as a well-equipped and affordable rental house to the community. It is managed by the school and its Theatre Department Head Candace Radcliffe, as well as by the Wheelhouse Theatre Society, a collaboration of community volunteers mandated to raise funds for, and contribute necessary equipment purchases to, the theatre.

Notable alumni