Site Record
Metadata
Site Name |
Port Credit High School |
Site# |
026 |
Description |
Port Credit High School was born out of a need for a high school for the residents of Port Credit, who only had Toronto schools available and had to travel far. At a public meeting, Port Credit rate-payers reacted by agreeing to construct a 5-room school on 3 acres of land to be shared by elementary and secondary students. By 1919, the Port Credit Public School Board established its "Continuation School" on Forest Avenue. It consisted of 2 rooms and boasted 2 teachers: Mr. H. A. Doupe and Miss Leggott. Although "First Form" was free, "Second Form" was $9.00, while "Third and Fourth Forms" was $15.00 a year. The need for more space was soon apparent. In 1926, a six-room addition was added to accommodate ever-rising numbers. By 1928, the school growth jumped exponentially. In June of 1929, on the eve of the Great Depression, excavation began on a new building for Port Credit High School. It would consist of ten classrooms, physics and chemistry labs, a library, an auditorium which seated 500, a brand new gym, a circular track, a basement cafeteria, and individual lockers for winter wear. Port Credit High School entered the Great Depression with a student population of 283 and nine teachers on staff. By the end of the decade there were over 400 students pursuing academics. The coming of World War II is understandably accompanied by a sharp decline in enrollment at Port Credit High School. The student population falls as low as 200. Some march off to enlist; some join the war effort on the home front; still others are needed by their families. Extra-curriculars reflect the times. Both Boys’ and Girls’ Cadet Corps and the Boys’ Bugle Band become prominent features on the playing field. By the end of the war, as prosperity returns, Port Credit’s numbers are once again on the rise. Port Credit ushers in the fifties with 675 students and 23 teachers, but change is inevitable. By the middle of the decade the school population nearly doubles and Port Credit High quickly expands under a new name: Port Credit Secondary School. A new addition is added to the school to cope with the growth and other surrounding schools help to diffuse the student population. However, on October 18, 1956 when fire engulfs the halls of the school. Awakened by a barking dog, Mrs. Kay Lucas, a nearby resident, notices the flames at 4:15 a.m. Her son, Bert, turns in the alarm. Firefighters set the start of the blaze at around 2:00 a.m. Damage is incredible, as fire quickly destroys the auditorium, the main office, the guidance rooms and the science labs. More than 100 firemen from Port Credit, Cooksville, Lakeview and New Toronto struggle for 8 hours to bring the flames under control. Eleven classrooms are ruined, including all the commercial rooms. The old wing is completely gutted and the new wing suffers smoke and water damage. Reportedly, scores of students, armed with mops and pails, move in to clean up the parts of the school untouched by fire. Rebuilding is swift and by the spring of 1957 P.C.S.S. has a new face, both inside and out. With renovations, the building is large enough to accommodate 700 students. On May 13, 1963, a new 3-storey PCSS on Mineola Road East opens. By the 1980s, changes in the classroom reflect changes in the community .Responding to the needs of the student body, P .C.S.S. starts an E.S.L. program. The school serves as a centre for three high schools and boasts an enrollment of ninety students, representing twenty-two different nationalities. Over the decade the school becomes truly multicultural, enriched by a wealth of experiences and heritages. Moderns courses are complemented by exchange programs to Switzerland, Germany, France and Belgium. Today, Port Credit High School continues to flourish, though much has changed. |
