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History

An image of the top of the Elmbank building.

The long and illustrious history of The High School of Glasgow spans back nearly 900 years.

The original school was founded as the Sang School of Glasgow Cathedral in around 1124, later known as Glasgow Grammar School. It was housed in Grammar School Wynd from 1461 until 1788 when it moved to George Street, then to John Street in 1821.

The name was changed in 1834 to The High School of Glasgow and in 1872 it was transferred to the management of the Glasgow School Board. In 1878, the school moved into the former premises of The Glasgow Academy on Elmbank Street, when the latter moved to its new home in Kelvinbridge in the West End of the city.

The Glasgow High School for Girls was founded in 1894 and housed variously in Garnethill and Kelvindale.

In 1976 the Regional Council re-organised education in Glasgow along comprehensive lines, leading to the closure of the Boys' High School. The Girls' High School began admitting boys and was renamed as Cleveden Secondary School.

The proposed closure was met with anger from former pupils of the School. The day following the closure of the Boys' High School, the new, independent, co-educational High School came into being following a merger involving the former pupils' association, the Glasgow High School Club and Drewsteignton School in Bearsden.

The School maintains a special relationship with Glasgow Cathedral, where it holds an annual Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving for pupils, staff and the wider community each September.

The purpose-built Senior School, housing pupils from Transitus (Primary 7) to Senior 6, is set amongst the playing fields of Old Anniesland, owned by the Glasgow High School Club. There have been multiple extensions to these buildings, including the construction of a two-storey science block and a dedicated Health and Wellbeing Centre.

The Kindergarten and Junior School, home to pupils from the age of 3 up until Junior 6, occupies the site of the former Drewsteignton School a one-time mansion house on Ledcameroch Road in Bearsden.

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