With deep gratitude and respect, we are honoured to be learning and unlearning on the ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) & səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation).

Sir James Douglas Annex Elementary is situated in the Southeast area of Vancouver on the border of Sunset and Victoria-Fraserview neighbourhoods. The area is relatively dense, with various household types and living arrangements. It has an increasingly diverse population. According to statistics from the City of Vancouver, this area has a high number of immigrants, with a population identifying as a visible minority, and residents using a non-English mother tongue or non-English home language. Douglas Annex is part of the David Thompson Secondary School Family of Schools.

Douglas Annex is a French Immersion single-track school where students have instruction in French from Kindergarten to Grade 3. French Immersion is a considered a Choice Program, so students come from all over the city but many live close or just outside the school neighbourhood.

There are 163 students in eight divisions. Our diverse population includes students with many different cultural heritages, those who are Indigenous, and those with special needs. When students enter Grade 4, they move to Sir James Douglas Elementary which is about six blocks away on Victoria Drive and Brigadoon.

The Douglas Annex staff is collaborative and collegial, with new members and many who have worked in the school for a long time. In addition to the classroom teachers, there is one full-time Resource Teacher and a Music Teacher one day per week. There are also two support workers who support students with special needs. The Vice Principal is onsite and teaches half the week in the library, while the principal supports the school from Douglas Elementary. The school is also supported by a Counsellor, a Speech and Language Pathologist, and a One-to-One Literacy Volunteer. Throughout the year, you may also see student teachers from nearby University programs working on their practicum teaching experience in classrooms.

Douglas Annex is invested in student learning in the classroom and beyond. It is an early intervention school with the Reading Recovery Literacy Program. Running Club, Track and Field, and Cross-country are some of the experiences offered to students outside of the classroom. Performances and other school experiences have also been carefully selected to teach students about awareness, acceptance, inclusion, and social issues.

Sir James Douglas Annex and Sir James Douglas Elementary have the same Parent Advisory Council (PAC). The PAC has supported the school by funding additional technology, field trips, in-class workshops, cultural dance workshops, school barbecues, parent information sessions, and our new gravel pathway between the entrance and the parking lot entrance.

Douglas Annex is a small school so many students and staff know each other. This creates a very safe, warm and welcoming environment. The students know the school motto to take care of ourselves, each other, and our school. A school song was created by staff members and is sung by students in at least one of the assemblies during the year. For many years the students have addressed staff members at Douglas Annex by their first names, for example Mme Stacey, the Vice Principal, and with this practice students are respectful of their teachers. Most students come to school ready to learn and are immersed in French from the first day of kindergarten. Staff work collaboratively with other staff members but also with parents while providing an exciting academic program for their students.