Ridgemont High School

Ridgemont High School. It is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school is located at 2597 Alta Vista Drive in the Alta Vista neighbourhood of Ottawa. It is next door to St. Patrick's High School, a Roman Catholic high school, and Charles Hulse Elementary School, also in the OCDSB.HistoryWork began on Ridgemont in 1957 when Prime Minister John Diefenbaker laid the cornerstone. Under Principal J. B. Speers, the school opened the next year, one of a series of composite schools built by the Ottawa Collegiate Board during the 1950s and 1960s to deal with the baby boom and increasing school attendance. Ridgemont was planned and designed at the same time as Rideau High School and Laurentian High School. Ridgemont opened a year earlier than the other two.The project generated some controversy as the Collegiate Board presented a plan that included an auditorium, double gym, and a cafeteria. The Ottawa Property Owners association objected to these as expensive and unneeded luxuries, and the mayor Charlotte Whitton agreed. The dispute delayed the construction of the school for some time.