The last years of the famous Waterdown School were sad and full of controversy. This school, which in 1873 was awarded the honour of being the first site chosen for written entrance examinations to be set for students to enter high school in the province of Ontario, had at one time been regarded as among the most prestigious in Ontario because of the high academic standards that the students achieved. Entries in the Minute Book of the Waterdown Public and Continuation School record many of the minor problems that began to cause the School Board concern after 1900 and eventually lead to its closure.
Conditions at the school appear to have seriously deteriorated after 1910. There was grave concerns about the state of the building and the conditions that the students were being taught under. School Inspectors were far from satisfied with the small improvements that the School Board made following their visits, which appear to have become more frequent during this decade.
The Waterdown Review, the original village newspaper, was very vocal in drawing attention to the situation. The issue published on Thursday, 14 August 1919 contained an article by the editor that must have shocked many residents.
“Believing that the people of East Flamborough and Waterdown should known the conditions of the Waterdown High School as seen by Inspector Levan upon his last visit, we quote the following from his report to the Board.
This school is situated on the upper floor of the Public school, and is reached by means of a stairway which is a veritable fire trap. What was originally intended as a hall at the entrance has been converted into a cap and cloakroom. The classroom assigned to Form I is at the far end of the building, and can be reached only by passing through one of the other class rooms. The floors of Form I and II are worn to a wretched condition. There is no private room for the use of the teachers. The class rooms are lighted from two or three sides, and are heated by wood stoves, one of which emits volumes of smoke into the room, and there is no provision for ventilation except by means of windows, so the pupils are obliged to sit in this smoke-charged atmosphere all day long. The closets are ill-ventilated and unsuitable.
The conditions prevailing here are so bad that it is a matter of surprise that parents of children who must attend this school have tolerated them for so long. I am of the opinion that the Department should no longer countenance such a state of affairs, and I recommend that no further grants be paid to this school while these conditions continue.”
Upon the receipt of this letter, Mr. William Attridge, the Secretary of the School Board wrote to the Department with a view to obtaining a more favourable report, and informing the officials of the strenuous efforts put forth several years earlier to build a new school. He added that the present members of the Board would be very happy to comply with the wishes of the Department and build a new school if the electorate would supply the funds. Mr. Attridge also informed them that at that time, a new $75,000 Public School was being constructed and that the present would appear to be an inopportune time to secure the consent of the people for a new High School.
The Secretary’s letter did little to improve the situation, for within a few days another letter arrived from the Department of Education. Written by Mr. Colquhoun, the Deputy Minister of Education, the letter simply said that the situation at the school could not continue and the harsh reality of the situation had to be faced.
“I am directed by the Minister of Education to state in reply to yours of the 21st inst., that conditions are reported to be so bad in the Waterdown High School that the Department cannot countenance them in any way. It would be better that the school be closed than that the health of the people should be impaired by their attendance under existing conditions.
The Board must therefore realize that it is a serious responsibility. The ratepayers should be fully informed of the deplorable conditions so that they may realize what their educational possibilities are likely to be reduced to.”
The School Board met to discuss the Minister’s reply and realized that they then had no option but to consider the construction of a new building. The Department of Education agreed to allow the students attending the Public School, and who were housed on the ground floor, to remain until their new school which was under construction on the site of the Waterdown Fair Grounds on Mill Street North was ready to be occupied.
The High School students spent the next seven years being educated in a variety of locations within the village core. Classes were held in Grace Anglican Church Hall, on the top floor of the East Flamborough Township Hall and on the top floor of the new Public School. Once the Public School was opened in January 1921, the Sealey Park building was closed.
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 1995 2022.
