the late 1990s. Opening Rockridge opened in September 1996, as a middle school serving grades 7–9. After the restructuring of the School District 45 in the 1998–1999 school year, elementary students stayed at their schools that were expanded to include grade 7. Rockridge then became a school for students in grades 8-10. The most recent change to the school population came in the 2001–2002 school year, when SD45 decided to expand Rockridge to a full senior secondary school starting the following year (it had been previously known as a junior secondary and before that a middle school). Students who were in grade 10 at that time were given the option to complete grades 11 and 12 at West Vancouver Secondary School or stay at Rockridge as the school expanded by one grade each year until graduation in 2004. Because of the capacity of the school (which was not originally designed to hold five grades), the graduating class of 2004 was about 125 students, as opposed to the larger classes of WVSS which could number in the hundreds. Media attention West Vancouver is considered to be one of the most affluent areas in Canada. As a result of that news stories surrounding incidents and violence at the school are often covered widely at the provincial and even national level.. In 2009, a police lockdown reached national attention, with a local resident reporting that they had seen a person with a rifle walking towards the school. Over 50 police officers, a helicopter, mobile police station, and emergency response team armed with AR-15 semi-automatic rifles were called in over what was eventually determined to be students holding a video camera tripod. Rockridge parents and students were told by police that using text messaging and Facebook services may have undermined police work, and that care should be taken when revealing information about a lockdown to the public. In response, some students planned a "Bring A Tripod To School Day" event to satirize the lockdown. Advanced Placement Program Rockridge, along with Sentinel Secondary School, offers Advanced Placement Program (AP)courses. It is currently a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years program., The following courses are offered: AP Calculus AB 12 AP Computer Science Principles 12 AP English Literature and Composition 12 AP English Language and Composition 12 AP European History AP French Language 12 AP Studio Arts: Drawing and Painting 12 AP Biology 12