David Thompson was a Welshman who served the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company at the turn of the Nineteenth Century. He traveled throughout most of the Western Canada and is best known as the first European to explore the Columbia River to its mouth. His maps and journals have provided a priceless primary source of Canadian history. David Thompson was a geographer, a surveyor, and an explorer and a fur-trader. His courage, expertise, determination and quest for knowledge do provide a good model for all students. It is fitting that our school is named after such an outstanding western Canadian Pioneer.

David Thompson Secondary School opened its doors in 1958. During the first year, 1500 students were enrolled and the first graduating class was in 1960. Gradually the number increased until in the mid-seventies the average annual population was in excess of two thousand. The school population now is about fifteen hundred students.

Since the school’s opening, many principals have served the school and its community. They are:

In its comparatively short history, David Thompson has evolved a philosophy that attempts to reflect the society it serves. Many students have entered directly into business and Thompson students distinguish themselves locally and internationally in Mathematics, Science and English. Several staff members have won the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence.