Poignant post. Resonates especially because I heard similar reminiscences from a neighbour who attended the precursor of Outremont High… Strathcona Academy. As you mentioned, Jewish kids who wanted to enrol in a public school (there were Jewish parochial schools, e.g. Herzliah, where Irving Layton taught… because the Protestant School Board wouldn’t hire Jewish teachers), were considered “Protestant” and enrolled in the nearest Protestant school. Being Irish, my own parents were deemed to be Catholic and were enrolled in the Catholic school board and taught in French. But the most famous “Protestant” high school in Montreal (whose enrolment in some years was over 95% Jewish) was Baron Byng, among whose alumni were A.M. Klein, David Lewis, Mordecai Richler, Morris Fish, William Shatner and Layton himself.

Btw, here’s Jerry Cohen (the Marxist political philosopher) on his experiences at Strathcona -- http://www.outremont-high.c...