The New High School

The opening of the new Orangeville District High School is of momentous importance to this community. It is a visible bringing to life once more of the ideals and traditions from the old brick school on the hill – the school which was destroyed by the fire of February 1, 1948. A lawn and new roadway may cover the last remains of the old school, but its life goes on in the nw. As we enter the building we are still in touch with the past. In the cement outside the main door are two slabs from the old, original four-room school of 1882 bearing the names of the board of the period, the headmaster and the architect. This may not take us back to the very beginnings of the Orangeville Grammar School, which was conducted in the two north rooms of the present Public School building, but it does carry us in mind back to the beginning of the building we lost. In the school our Literary Society still possesses the constitution of the one formed in 1887 even though that constitution has changed; our colours are sstil the colours introduced in 1890 when the cricket team tied on their cans with red and blue ribbons; our school magazine is sstill published annually though it may not bear the odiferous name of “Onion”; and our registers still bear the record of the names of the earliest scholars.

The difficulties of the past three years have made us especially appreciative of our new school. In spite of the kindnesses of the various churches who offered us space and the school boards who offered equipment, it was a difficult period, working without proper facilities, in cold and discomfort. We are proud that our students faced the challenge of these difficulties – that cooperation and scholastic standards have been high in spite of hardships.

This school is not a school for the people of Orangeville alone, but for the whole district – in a sense even more than the old school ever was. As early as January 1947 a Consultative Committee had worked on the formation and organization of a school district, but their efforts were intensified by the fire and the absolute necessity for a new school. Last January the District Board was finally formed and under its aegis we have entered the new building. Great credit is due their efforts and those of their predecessors on the High School Board for many hours of unselfish work; also to Mr. Kyles who, as architect, has worked with painstaking care in cooperation with the Pigott Construction Company.

We have a beautiful building and are standing on the threshold of a new day. May the traditions of the past inspire our future.

Marjorie Kidd, B.A., English teacher (October 2, 1951)