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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-06-28, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2000. Community celebrates school’s closing with class Emceeing the festivities Though the day brought sadness with the impending closure of Walton Public School, former school board trustee Graeme Craig, right, principal Alice McDowell and community member Neil McGavin, added fun and laughter to the celebration of the past and hope for the future. Entertaining the children Ms Fizz told jokes and performed magic for the children as part of the activities held to celebrate Walton Public School’s past and the great community spirit. Nicole Williamson assisted. Past principals Walton Public School’s first principal Marie Toll chatted with former principal and director of education Paul Carroll dur­ ing a break in the entertainment Sunday afternoon. Family bids farewell with fiddles Jamie Mitchell, grandmother Phyllis and school mascot Gus were accompanied by Ken Scott as they serenaded the crowd of over 500 gathered at Walton Public School for the closing cer­ emonies, June 25. Photos by Janice Becker Walton school community’s Christmas present By Paul Carroll Former Principal, Superintendent and Director of Education Note: For a more complete review of WPS history and the educational highlights from the village of Walton and neighbouring townships, see: Grey Township and Its People by Marilyn Engel, and Morris Township Past to Present, by Jeanne Kirkby. On Wednesday. Dec. 5, 1962, then school board chair, Wilfred Shortreed, and Public School Inspector, J.H. (Jim) Kinkhead, proudly led a parade of school chil­ dren to the spanking new Walton Public School (WPS). It was a great Christmas present for the Village of Walton and the children from Morris, Grey and McKillop. It was a special treat for trustees like the late Don McDonald who spent a lifetime of service for the education of chil­ dren. The young students housed in the former Walton School - Morris, Grey, McKillop, USS # 11, just across the road, and from three other buildings in the townships, marched solemnly but proudly to their new quarters. Barbara Bryans, a delighted stu­ dent, cut the ribbon with the assis­ tance of Randy Miller and Cathy McDonald at the official opening held a week later on Dec. 12. The new four room. Grades l to 8 school, marked a triumphant conclu­ sion to months of planning and nego­ tiation by the five-member school board - and a three-month delay resulting from the 'shortage of con­ struction materials’. It was a 'state of the art’ facility with a ‘folding’ wall between two of the classrooms, which could be moved to create a larger assembly space or playroom if needed. Modem washrooms, a contemporary furnace, a good well, and even a staff room completed the facility. The spacious playground ensured an abundance of space for energetic pupils to play and to participate in physical education activities. The 1962 building cost of some $84,000 - even with its $ l(),(X)() cost over-run was less than the almost $ 10(),()(X) budget for adding only two classrooms to the facility in 1989 and certainly much less than the cost for a library addition and kinder­ garten upgrade in 1993 at a cost of some $I7(),(X)(). The building, supported fully by the community and the school boards over the years, served its pupils well. Walton PS opened in 1962 as a Grades I-8 school, one of the grow­ ing number of consolidated central schools which were replacing the older one room schools across Huron County and rural Ontario at this time. It remained to serve the full ele­ mentary grade range until 1971 when a decision was made to trans­ port Grades 4-8 to the newly reno­ vated and expanded Seaforth Public School (SPS). This action was one of the early consolidation measures undertaken by the newly created county board of education. Kindergarten was added at this time, and the school became the only primary school in the juris­ diction of the fledgling Huron County board. Ten years later, in 1981, the school was 'twinned' with Seaforth Public School. The principal, and teaching staff for French, music, library and special education, were shared between the two schools. In the mid-1990s, with the advent of school councils and a desire for closer connections with the commu­ nity the school was de-twinned. once again being assigned its own princi­ pal. In the meantime, to till up space as the result of declining enrolment, steps were undertaken to add Grade four to the school’s population. If the wistful dream of overcrowding had become a reality at SPS, Grade five would also have been added. With changes in school board structure yet again - the amalgama­ tion of Huron and Perth into the new Avon Maitland District School Board - with changes in government funding for education, and with fur­ ther decline in the rural population, steps were taken to close Walton Public School and relocate the pupils to Seaforth Public. The proposed new location, along with pupils moved from the Seaforth Public School, would be the planned-to-be- former Seaforth District High School (SDHS), also slated for closure by the new Board. At this time, with the closure of SDHS stalled by a court order, the children will move to SPS in its cur­ rent site. The new school will be 'full' once again - to a level even higher than its heyday population of more than four hundred in the early 1970s. (The student population from Egmondville - presently attending Huron Centennial - will also be added to the rolls.) The first principal at Walton Public School was Marie Toll. It was truly her school. She established the cul­ ture, the community connections and the special place that Walton has always been for its children. Following a failed initiative to close the school in 1979, and in response to a decision to leave the school open, the principal assigned was Paul Carroll who shared the administrative responsibility for this building along with SPS. The justi­ fication for leaving the school open with only a small enrolment was the cost saving said to be achieved by sharing a principal and certain staff with another school. Principals Gary Jewitt and Don Tremeer continued the twinning arrangement until the new director, Paul Carroll determined that Helen Crocker be assigned the full princi­ pal role in about 1996. She was fol­ lowed by Maggie Crane and the cur­ rent principal, Alice McDowell. When Walton PS is officially closed at the end of June 2000, it will mark the demise of the only special­ ized primary elementary school in the Avon Maitland board. The build­ ing will be one more tombstone in the graveyard of small community schools.