page_title: Hermitage Academy (Scotland)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hermitage Academy (Scotland) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Hermitage Academy, Helensburgh. Photo taken from the entrance to the Waitrose supermarket across the road.
context_page_description: Hermitage Academy is a non-denominational secondary school in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is one of two secondary schools in the Helensburgh area and is currently the largest secondary school in Argyll and Bute.
  The school catchment area extends from the Firth of Clyde to Loch Lomond and the Rest and be thankful, including in addition to the town of Helensburgh the villages of Cardross, Rhu, Shandon, Garelochhead, Clynder, Rosneath, Kilcreggan, Arrochar, Tarbet and Luss and other rural areas. Since this catchment area straddles the Highland Boundary Fault Line, the school is uniquely both a Lowland and a Highland school.
context_section_description: The school was originally located in East Argyle Street next to the current primary school. The first Gothic building, with four classrooms and a music room and an intended capacity of 500, opened in 1880. In 1966, after complaints of overcrowding, the secondary school was replaced by a new building at Campbell Drive, Helensburgh, but when this proved too small, a second building of equal capacity was built beside it. In February 2008 the school was again relocated to a new campus on the outskirts of the town. The school badge features the main entrance of the original Hermitage School.
  The head teacher is Robert Williamson. Formerly the head teacher at Drumchapel High School in Glasgow, he joined the school on 23 October 2017. The role was previously filled by David Mitchell, who took over as acting head teacher following the retirement of Geoff Urie in June 2017.
  The school's motto is Nulla Virtus Sine Labore, which translates to Nothing Achieved Without Hard Work.
  As of November 2018, the school had 1284 pupils and almost 100 teaching staff.
caption: Hermitage Academy, Cardross Road building
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