A Brief History of QMS
Queen Margaret's School was founded by Miss Norah Creina Denny and Miss Dorothy Rachel Geoghegan. These two women had been teaching individually before being brought together, and their common interest in Guides helped greatly towards establishing their lifelong friendship. When they took that first step to open their own school, they had little idea what the future held for either of them.
Our QMS Founders: Miss Norah C. Denny and Miss Dorothy R. Geoghegan
Miss Denny and Miss Geoghegan wanted to provide a solid education for anyone willing to come to their school. They wanted to teach those young people service, integrity, pride, both in themselves and the school, and faith in themselves.
The original cottage schoolhouse shown here with the first addition.
In the last fifteen years, Queen Margaret’s School has embarked on a series of improvements and building projects that reflect best practices in the ever-evolving educational landscape. The Primary Centre (2008), Rowantree Hall (2009), The Learning Centre Phase I (2014), the ECE Centre (2020), and The Learning Centre Phase II (2021) are the latest dedicated instructional spaces to be constructed. Each of these buildings is characterized by natural light and materials, fostering innovation and creativity. They are inspirational environments where students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 can collaborate and develop the skills needed to become lifelong learners.
The graduates of Queen Margaret’s School recognize they have been given great opportunities and they have risen to the challenge and gone on to achieve tremendous things. It is no small feat that all of the school’s graduates achieve post-secondary school admission, often with significant scholarship offers. Many of our graduates go on to study physics, engineering, science, and business. By combining enriched educational experiences with unique programs such as leadership and service learning, Queen Margaret’s School prepares students not just for university, but for life.
The development of Queen Margaret's School illustrates the fact that the character, tone and spirit of a school do not depend on fine buildings, but on the people themselves. Back in 1921, Miss Denny and Miss Geoghegan wanted to show all students who came under their care how to reach their potential, both academic and social. We are very aware that many things have changed over the past 99 years, but the spirit of the Founders’ vision is still embedded in our new strategic plan: We prepare trailblazers for an unknown future.